Rise of Ponietheus
by twitterdick
Summary: Storms brew over Ponyville as a dark presence lurks from the north. An old, forgotten legend has been brought back from the dead.
1. Chapter 1: Every Beginning Has an Ending

Long ago in an unrecorded age, the planet housing Equestria was ruled by a race of titanous alicorns, watching from the sky. Each was the embodiment of a virtue and a fragment of a consciousness fleshed out; a representative of a trait. A spinning, gleaming galaxy was their residence. In the cusp of a great schism, a powerful clan under the alicorn Draco, the embodiment of order, sought refuge in the solar system containing the primordial Equestia. His brethren and subjects fuzed into the system, staking a claim into the unconquerable universe. Worn by the conflict they had only recently escaped, they took the role of sentinels - guarding the planets, stars and systems that all formed around a grand earth. That planet, Equestria's precursor, housed a garden of life. Life was a precious thing to the alicorns and the clan swore to protect it from the terrors of the universe.  
Draco maintained order and stability in the vast, lively reaches of Equestria until a race of Earth ponies appeared from the cold, brittle mountains to the North. Draco, offended by their likeness to the alicorns, deemed them a mockery, offering them no assistance and keeping them contained in the cold northern valleys. Such a subjective and cruel act forged a wedge among his clan, and the dissenters who took pity on the struggling Earth ponies gathered behind a young but powerful alicorn; the keeper of knowledge, Ponietheus. Bold and idealistic, Ponietheus ignored Draco's warnings and blessed the Earth ponies with the gift of sentience, knowledge and fire. Quickly deeming such an act treacherous, the powerful Draco exiled Ponietheus by binding him onto the Earth, pinning him to a lone mountain in the northern valley, where he would remain so long as he kept his true form. With their leader defeated and exiled, the dissenters were silenced.  
Trapped upon the surface of Earth, Ponietheus's sanity was kept in tact due to a quick bonding with the enlightened Earth ponies, who soon visited him once a day for companionship and advice, as well as regarding him with praise and veneration. Throughout the early years of his exile he taught them to wield the fire he had given them, and the Earth pony tribes used this fire to clear the cold and snow that blanketed the landscape and soon flourished, building many settlements and constructed several machines. The dissenters he had once lead soon found him, and he remained very involved in the workings of his clansponies who grew more and more worried of Draco's deprave and power.  
Soon, Draco was forced to acknowledge the technological power of the once weak and feeble Earth ponies, yet commanded they stay confined in the northern valleys. Angry over the past treatment of their tribes and of Ponietheus, the Earth ponies ignored Draco's command and built many war machines to rival his power, and pave the way south.  
The Earth ponies gathered under the banner of the dissenters, and war raged on. Seeking to undo the reckless damage he and his alicorn brethren had wrought upon the peaceful bliss that had once inhabited Earth, Ponietheus created a spell that drew it's power from the pools of knowledge gifted and grown by the Earth ponies. With it, he draped himself in a shadow to escape his confinement, and used his knowledge to clove Draco's followers in two; some retaining their powers of the mind as unicorns, and some retaining their powers of the body as pegasi, and bound these cloven ones to the same Earth they leered down on. Succumbing to the might of his newly found power, Ponietheus enacted a great revenge on Draco, turning him to a chaotic beast and banishing him far south.  
However, the magic he used demanded such power that it sapped through the collective knowledge of the Earth ponies into something darker, and more primal - the cold, unfeeling instinct buried neath the fledglings of knowledge draped upon the minds of the Earth ponies. The once great white Ponietheus now appeared as the embodiment of fear, not knowledge, to the Earth ponies. They abandoned their benefactor to push south along with the newly formed and bitter unicorns and pegasi. Their great settlements and machines were left to a forever confined Ponietheus.  
The dissenting alicorns who were spared Ponietheus's terrible spell soon departed to space, bickering amongst themselves how to fill the power vacuum left by Draco. Yet Ponietheus himself was doomed to wander his mountain and the abandoned Earth pony cities. To his dismay, he was soon nothing more than a legend to the southern Earth bound ponies. Generation after generation, they slowly forgot the gifts he had given them. He soon fell out of touch with the surviving alicorns, all rendered on high in space staking claims in the solar system.  
Out of touch with the events circulating on earth and on high, Ponietheus retracted into his sullen, bitter loneliness in the cold valleys of the north. He studied the facets of the land he occupied silently, but found little comfort in the looming gloomy light of earth's moon, and soon the alicorn who embodied it.  
Ponietheus met and befriended a laconic young alicorn named Luna, who's friendship he embraced wholeheartedly, finding it to part the warfare in his head and the howling within him. Young and ignorant of the tribulations that came before her time, Luna revealed that the younger alicorns - the descendents of the dissenters - now embodied celestial objects instead of traits, and that she and her older sister had come down to earth to escape the bickering tedium of the alicorns in space. The two bonded quickly over their shared recalcitrant opinions.  
Over the next several years, Luna would visit Ponietheus in the dead cities he acclimatized. The two erudite beings would often discuss philosophy, history and culture, yet a darkness slowly crept into Luna's heart. She confided her growing jealousy in her sister's bright relationship with the Earth ponies in Ponietheus. Reminded of his abandonment, his cold advice encouraged Luna's failed rebellion against her powerful sister and her confinement to the moon. Ponietheus was soon victim to the crushing dread of being truly alone.  
A cold, bitter anger festered in Ponietheus for the next thousand years, and all the love and pity he'd had for the creatures of Equestria faded. His once bright white coat became decadent and dim as he grew darker with every century of solitude, forgotten in the ruins of the north. Even when Luna returned to her duties in Equestria after her thousand year banishment, she was welcomed with open arms, and she too forgot about him. Ponietheus grew darker and darker, but was soon granted opportunity. Ponietheus used the bitterness within him to craft himself into a new identity, a dark being that fed off of fear and despair, and he used that power to escape the ruins and push south as a harbinger of a plague of sorrow.

-

Twilight Sparkle found herself walking alone in the Everfree forest. The landscape was much darker then she remembered, but she felt no fear. In it's place, she felt a calm calling; a summoning leading her thru the dark trees to a clearing and a cliff in full view of the great moon. A flash covered the moons surface, and soon Princess Luna flew down and landed on the perch before Twilight Sparkle.  
"Princess Luna?" Twilight Sparkle gazed up at the alicorn, a realization sinking into her chest. "This is a dream, isn't it?"  
"Yes, indeed." Princess Luna responded. "I have brought you here for a very important reason. I fear a dark shadow is approaching Equestria, one that threatens the very core of the kingdom. I know this evil's face, but I can not put a name to it. It is as though any information I would have on it has been locked away…"  
"Is that was been causing that darkness to the North? I noticed a growing shadow many, many miles away. But it seems to be getting closer."  
"You surely felt a foreboding about it, haven't you. The same I feel."  
"Yes, Princess. I definitely feel it. It's like the whole atmosphere changing... Like the planet itself is unsettled..."  
"I feel it to. Seek whatever information you can, dear Twilight Sparkle. I will do what I can to protect the kingdom, but I'm leaving the… information seeking to you. I hear it's your specialty."  
"That it is, Princess! You can count on me!"  
Organization, observation, quandaries, research... it all struck Twilight Sparkle on a familiar note, reminding her of the simpler days where she'd casually topple an ageless evil midway thru it's premeditated destruction plan. Conquering Equestia's evils had been a bit a recurring job of hers before her ascent into royalty.  
Princess Luna rose, back towards the moon. Twilight felt the dream fade around her. "I'll contact you again soon. Good luck, Twilight Sparkle."  
She soon awoke in her bed at the cusp of dawn. Poking her head out a nearby window, she gazed north towards a far off chitinous shadow, looming and sparking in the distance. She had been casually observing the ominous formation in between adjusting and training for her royalty. An ever absorbing curiosity centered on the bleak, distant shadow had been infecting her thoughts as of late. Twilight felt a nice, relaxing flow of relief now that investigating the presence had been upgraded to a full priority. She gleamed as she turned to a sleeping Spike, tucked away in his bed.  
"Wake up, Spike!" she shouted, whipping the covers off the sleeping dragon.  
Spike awoke with a jump, a quick startle quickly giving way to expected agitation.  
"Hey!" he said, voice colored in annoyance. "Don't you know what time it is? It's way to early to wake up, the Sun's not even all the way up yet!"  
"We don't have any time to waste!" Twilight responded, "Princess Luna contacted me in a dream. She's very worried about that northern shadow that appeared yesterday, and she's wants me to gather information on it. Go gather the others, please! I'll prepare everything here."  
"What makes you think any of them are up?"  
"If they aren't, then wake them!"  
"Ugh, fine."  
In a weary resignation, Spike made his way out the door into the quiet town. Too early for meetings, he thought, the town wasn't even active yet. He walked thru the quiet town to the respective homes of each of his friends, sleepily pawing at his prescribed task.  
"Wake up, Rarity!" he shouted, pounding at her door. "Twilight needs you to meet her at the library!"  
"Spike!" Rarity screamed, poking her head out the upstairs window. "Do you have any idea what time it is? Stop making that racket!"  
"Sorry, Rarity, but Twilight needs everypony to meet at the library right away!"  
"Uuugh, all right, I'm on my way!"  
Lingering thoughts of the comforts of bed twerp-ed and twittered in Spike's head, echoing the sudden songs of waking birds of the small town. Spike soon happened by a snoozing Rainbow Dash, curled up on a cloud above him. He reached for a nearby pebble and tossed it up at her.  
"Ack!" she sputtered, the rock bouncing off her head. "Hey, what's the big idea?"  
"Sorry for waking you, but Twilight Sparkle needs you at the library right away!"  
"Got it!" Rainbow Dash shout energetically, racing off to Twilight's tree home. Spike had always found her never failing exuberance, even in the face of such an ungodly hour, to be respectable but exasperating and unnecessary. Now was clearing the time for sleeping, not excitement.  
Spike then found himself before the cake shop. He reached for the handle, when Pinkie Pie suddenly jumped out from a nearby potted plant, scaring the dragon half to death.  
"Dontcha even THINK about breaking into there, mister!" She shouted, dressed in camouflage and donning a fake mustache. She soon noticed her intruder was Spike, and all tough pretenses slide back into the ever bouncy silliness of Pinkie Pie. "Oh! Hiya Spike! Whatcha up to?"  
"Don't scare me like that Pinkie Pie!" he said, catching his breath. He wondered how he didn't expect such occurrences from Pinkie Pie. They were as normal to her as shaking hooves to most ponies. "I'm just gathering everypony. Twilight needs you at the library."  
"Oh! Okie Dokie!" Pinkie Pie squeaked with exuberance, tossing her garment and mustache aside. "See ya there, Spike!"  
A few minutes later, Spike arrive at Sweet Apple Acres to find Applejack up bright and early, already working her fields. "Hey Applejack!" He shouted, making his way past the gate to her.  
"Oh, howdy Spike!" She said, taking notice of the little dragon. "What can I do ya for?"  
"I need you to go the library, Twilight Sparkle needs to talk to everypony!"  
"All right, I'll be there lickity split!" She said, putting her tools aside, and heading off into town.  
One more stop, Spike thought, making his way up to Fluttershy's cabin. He found her near her chicken coup, feeding the critters that lived there. "Good morning, Spike!" she cooed, taking notice of him, "What brings you all the way out here?"  
"Twilight Sparkle needs you at the library!" He was very tired of saying that. "C'mon, let's go."  
"Oh, all right." Fluttershy said gently, laying the feed down. She turned to her animal friends. "I'll be back soon, no one get into any trouble, ok?"  
Fluttershy and Spike made their way back into the town, now coming alive at morning. Ponies began about their business, opening their shops and stands, making their way to work and school. An average day in Ponyville.  
"So what is this meeting all about?" Fluttershy asked.  
"Twilight said she was contacted by Princess Luna in a dream!" he responded, "She's worried about that storm up north that appeared yesterday."  
"Oh, I don't like the look of that at all." Fluttershy shuttered rather characteristically. "Neither do the animals, they've been restless all night!" In a momentary reprieve from his sleepy thoughts, Spike considered the gravity of the distant storm. "Well, at least we've got some heads up this time. Usually when something bad happens, it just suddenly happens and we have to scramble around for a few hours."  
The two arrived at their destination, opening the door to the rest of the ponies gathered around a table. Twilight had papers laid out before each spot, preparing herself to speak.  
"Ok, everypony..." she began with a nice authoritative tone, "I'm sure you all have noticed that growing darkness to the north…"  
"Yeah, what's with that?" interjected Rainbow Dash, "It's seems really far away, but it's messing with the weather. Every time I think I've cleared the sky, more and more cloud's show up."  
"Things sure are gettin' stranger and stranger," Said Applejack, "I can't get hardly any work done on account of the wind and all the critters actin' up."  
"They're all very, very frightened about something," murmured an exasperated Fluttershy, "I haven't seen them this scared in a long time. Do you know anything about it, Twilight?"  
"I haven't had a chance to research anything, but Princess Luna contacted me in a dream last night. That Northern Shadow really got her spooked. And judging by the way the animals around here have been acting, I'd say this is something we need to look into."  
Twilight motioned to the list she had laid out on the table. The other ponies gathered around.  
"Ok,here's the plan." she said, "Spike and I will pour through the books here to learn everything we can about any shadowy masses. Rainbow Dash, you and Fluttershy fly out to that shadow and observe it. Come back with a list of details so I can cross reference them and narrow down the research."  
"You got it!" Rainbow Dash said exuberantly.  
"Oh, I don't know…" Said Fluttershy meekly, "That dangerous scouting business sounds more like Rainbow Dash's speed than mine. I should really see to the critters…"  
"Oh, no you don't!" Rainbow Dash shouted, getting right up on Fluttershy, "You're not chickening out this time. Besides, we can bring Discord, too. Between me and him, you've got all the protection you'll need." She turned to Twilight, "We'll be back!" Rainbow Dash pushed a reluctant Fluttershy out the door.  
"Allright," Continued Twilight Sparkle. "Now, whenever something like this happens it always catches everyone by surprise. We don't need any unnecessary damage to the town and it's residents. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, I need you two to go around town and warn everyone. Make sure buildings are secure and everypony has enough food and supplies to go around."  
"Gotcha!" cried Pinkie Pie, bouncy as always.  
"Yeah, I reckon folks will be happy to be forewarned before the town is befallen by a mystical being… again." said Applejack. The two Earth ponies set out to complete their tasks.  
"Oh, I suppose I'm all that's left." Said Rarity, "Everyone else's job seemed hard. Can I do something that's not very hard?"  
"Well…" responded Twilight Sparkle, vaguely annoyed, "I'll need you to go to Canterlot and talk to Princess Celestia. See that she's warned about the shadow and if she knows anything about it."  
"Oh, that's perfect!" chimed a delighted Rarity, "Ok, I'll pop into the lovely palace and be back before you know it!"  
As Rarity left, Twilight Sparkle turned to Spike. "Spike, find me any book that mentions strange shadows. This could be caused by anything, so don't overlook a single detail that might be important."  
Spike saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"

-

The triage of Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Discord made their way flying over the northern plains towards the approaching storm like shadow. "So, do we really know much about this big scary dark thing we're flying towards or are you throwing yourself at a problem you don't fully understand like usual?" Asked the callous Discord, words wrapped in sarcasm. "Something about that cloud has really got Princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle concerned, so we're going to check it out. Thought we'd bring you along, seeing as your a good guy now." Responded Rainbow Dash, still reserving hostility to the reformed Discord. "Oh, well, I apologize for seeking information!" Dryly remarked the draconequus, "But when I was a villain I had a clear plan of action. But, as I am a good guy now, blind exuberance it is!"  
The despairingful Fluttershy huddled behind Discord as they flew. Taking notice, Discord peered behind his back at her. "What on Earth are you doing back there?"  
"Oh, just watching our flanks!…hahhah…" squeaked an uneasy Fluttershy. A nearby lightning strike cracked the sky before them, sending Fluttershy back to her hiding spot. "Stupendous!" quirked Discord, "Teamed up with the coward and the idiot. I'm sure this will work out perfect for all parties involved."  
The party approached the oncoming shadow and halted in their tracks at the sight. It had an eerie, horrific lifelike movement to it as it slithered over the landscape, driving life away from it. The large shadow consumed the landscape before them, stirring the clouds above and causing storms and panic. The mass seemed to even breathe.  
"Well, we certainly got a look at it!" shrieked Fluttershy among the howling winds and screeching sounds. "Better head back."  
"You might be right on this one, Fluttershy…" cooed an uncomfortable Rainbow Dash, slowly pulling away from the approaching mass.  
Discord did not share the hesitation of his colleagues, but seemed rather intrigued by the approaching Lovecraftian horror. He tilted his head at the sight, as if it triggered a long locked away memory or experience that felt implanted in his hazy mind. "I know this…" He said quietly, as he inched a bit closer. Peering into the slowly approaching darkness, Discord soon saw an eye of a piercing blue hue staring back at him. A spark of furious anger pulsed through it as it took notice of it's onlooker, and a black tentacle ripped itself from the mass and attempted to wrap around itself around the draconequus's body, but seemed oddly repelled, hovering about him as if unable to make contact. "Oh goodness…" Discord cried with sudden panic, his sullen demeanor giving way to a great fear. He turned to the accompanying ponies. "Run! Run! Get out of here!"  
The eye in the darkness unleashed an audible snarl and lurched itself at the party, swallowing the immobilized Discord. "Fly Fluttershy, GO GO!" Cried Rainbow Dash, pushing the screaming Fluttershy south. The shadow threw itself after them like an awful wind, consuming the landscape at a much more rapid pace. Rainbow Dash kept a constant eye on the sluggish, panicked Fluttershy that struggled after her. She turned to see the eye in the darkness grow to a full face abraded in murky shadow. It flung a tentacle towards them. Though easily dodged by the athletic Rainbow Dash, the fear induced Fluttershy was ensnared. Rainbow Dash quickly rushed back, sending a gust of wind at the shadow, breaking Fluttershy from it's grasp. She grabbed her screaming friend and pushed ahead. The darkness seemed to slow to a stop, but it's laughter shook the surrounding landscape.  
From the center of it's mass, it launched to great black beams. One seemed to hold an unconscious Discord and shot him far south, while the other rocketed towards Canterlot in the distance. Rainbow Dash rushed herself and Fluttershy back towards Ponyville.

-

At the same time up in the great palace atop Canterlot, Princess Celestia paced in a panic in her throne room. The shadow approaching the kingdom filled her with a great anxiety of an unknown origin. She knew this darkness was a thing of peril, but she didn't know why. It was as though a long forgotten memory was calling to her through he blood and bones. She had scrambled the guards and conjured a powerful barrier to surround her kingdom. But a black beam suddenly shot from the far off shadows and pierce her barrier with ease. She felt the shock-wave as the barrier fell.  
A storm brewed over her castle, and the lights about slowly faded. Soon, as dark mass poured from the ceiling and gathered in a corner opposite of her. It twisted and morphed, soon growing to a solid black shadow that appeared upright and three dimensional. The Princess gathered herself silently, and faced the shadow as she drove her hooves indignantly into the floor before her.  
And that shadow acted as a doorway, bidding entrance to a dark horse. He stood before the Princess in an uncanny stillness, matching her height and stature. From head to hoof, he was draped in decrepit gray bandages - all arbitrarily woven together - twisting at every turn. His white skin seen only at a point near his nose that stuck out of the ripped bandages and around his left eye, which was a piercing pale blue color. A dried stream of black tears formed a stain beneath his exposed eye and ran to the cusp of a helmet, appearing of a dim metal, he wore around a great sharp, bandaged and thorn like horn. He bore a dark mane that flowed to to his back, and - along with his tail - appeared of twisted shadows. Shadowy veins spiraled about his body like horrid lightning.  
Near the base of his neck, he wore a dark pendant. It held the likeness of a chitinous claw from the depths of the earth that spiraled around itself, rising from a wrapped, twisted hive at the base. The pendant was held in place by a decadent thorn lace twisted around his neck. A tapetum lucidum reflected the fragmented light of the room in in the catlike slit in his iridescent left eye.  
"Pestilent wretch!" Bellowed Princess Celestia, pressing harder into the ground as she lowered her horn towards the incoming beast. "I know not what you are, but you shall not have your way with my kingdom and my subjects!" She released a powerful, fiery attack spell at the invader, who in turn brought forth a mass from his horn that engulfed the mighty ruler's attack, rendering it mute.  
"I'm wretched, but I'm powerful." The dark harbinger spoke dryly with a voice like gravel. He summoned a black, twisted insect mass to ensnare the stunned Princess Celestia, as the storm outside grew in intensity. As the darkness swallowed the Princess, he sputtered a few more words at her. "And I am much older than you…"


	2. Chapter 2: Harrow

Mindful of the brewing storm over Canterlot, Rarity approached the city's mighty golden gates. The guards were suspiciously absent from the checkpoint, and Rarity stood before the still gate in silence, searching for any presence. "Hello?" She called, confused. "Is anypony here?"

The gate maintained it's silence.

The indignant Rarity stomped a hoof down into the dirt. "I said hello!" She cried. "Somepony's got to be around here? Open the gate please, I must see the Princess!"

The gate maintained it's silence.

"Alright…" called out a confused and unsettled Rarity. "I'm going to come in… Nopony freak out and arrest me or anything…" The still gates stayed quiet in midst of the brewing overhead storm. "Great…" sputtered an annoyed Rarity, "So much for the easy stroll to Canterlot."

She pushed her way through the gates into the town. The streets mimicked the gates silence and eerie absence of life. Rarity grew more and more unsettled as she passed through the ominous deserted streets. The whole town seemed foggy and dim, like it's spirit had been forcefully extracted along with it's inhabitants. Rarity made her way to the palace. She stopped at the base of the entrance stairs and looked up at the entire building. It's usual glow and charm appeared drained, replaced with an awful decadence of stillness and draped in tension as storm clouds swirled above it. The whole capital was dead.

Rarity pushed the great doors of the palace open. The halls were silent with the bright art and windows masked in a dim stillness as a shadow cloaked the ends of the long walkway to the throne room. "Princess Celestia? Are you in here?" Rarity called out uneasily into the dark. Apart from a slight echo that ricochet slightly from the looming columns, the whole palace seemed unresponsive, as if trapped in time on a particularly dreary, foggy night. The great stain glass art that contextualized the walkway seemed to leer down on the unsettled Rarity as she proceeded carefully down the hazed hallway towards the throne room. An awful sensation stirred in her stomach as she approached the set of doors leading to the next rooms. She felt as if she was fading through reality into a separate subconsciousness that was populating the palace. She slowly perched her head into the dark throne room

"Princess Celestia?" She cooed weakly and uneasily, slowly mustering the courage to pull her entire body into the next room. It's sheer crushing darkness vastly contrasted the dim state of the previous hall way. Many things on the opposite side of the room seemed to blend together, and were difficult to make out. This room aped the eerie stillness of the rest of the palace. While maintaining the silence of the other areas, Rarity felt a soft presence in this room, and she thought she could hear a faint breathing coming from the dark side of the room. Yet, her attention was pulled to the center of the room where a small lantern that lit an old, beaten book laid out in perfect view of the door.

Rarity approached the lit enclave and magically lifted the lantern well above her head. It's light barely touched the overcast shadows encompassing the room, but a flicker of great fear pulsed from her heart and pumped to the rest of her as a slight movement caught her attention. It originated from a corner near the throne it self, and it was very subtle. There was little motion, but Rarity could make out what what could be a still figure with a slight movement about it's top, like a flowing mane. Believing it might be the princess, Rarity forced her self to approach it, mind still on the exit. "Princess, you're starting to scare me, please say something…" She said at the shadows weakly. She got close enough to see the figure was Princess Celestia, curled up on the floor in the corner of the room. Her calmy flowing mane contrasted the trembling of her body, and her pallet was completely dark, as thought she'd been encased in a solidified shadow, and her face was painted in fear. Rarity's fear turned to a panicked concern, "Princess! What's happened! What's wrong with you?!"

There was no response from the Princess herself, but a murky thick shadow began to seep from her body, and it soon rose up. Rarity could make out a face in the growing shadow as it swallowed the Princess. "…do you believe in legends, Rarity?" came a deep, booming voice that filled the room. The shadow shot out, smashing a nearby window and encasing the corner as a swamp like mass. It lurched at a screaming Rarity as she dropped the lantern and bolted for the exit, grabbing the book laid out on the floor as she pushed into the hallway. The darkness swallowed the palace around her, shattering the stain glass art that painted the walls and raining bits of glass down near Rarity. The door to the town seemed to stretch away as she neared it, but Rarity sprinted at a hysterical pace and dived out of the palace into the empty street.

Dark, chitinous tentacles burst from the outside walls and the steps, and slithered after Rarity as she made her escape into the town itself. Windows burst open with a howling, and the clouds ahead swirled around, with the occasional lighting striking the roof tops and sending sparks to the street beating beneath Rarity's hooves as she pushed her way to the gates of Canterlot. Shadows seeped into her peripheral vision, with the dark veins sliding along the ground near her. She throw herself against the gates and crashed to the paved road outside the city. She glanced back at the gate to see the shadows wrapping around it's bars, pulling the gate closed behind her.

Rarity ran down the mountain, chased from the shadow palace that stood atop the once great capital. A maelstrom of dark clouds circled it's center, and soon a great cyclone descended from the sky and engulfed the city. Canterlot was inaccessible. Rarity escaped with that book she found in tact, and she slowed to a tired walk after putting a great distance between her and Canterlot. Her heart continued to beat against her ribcage, and the frantic pumping pounded in her ears as she made her way to Ponyville.

As Twilight Sparkle and Spike poured through their books, a worrisome Rainbow Dash pushed her way into the library, dragging along an hysterical Fluttershy. Propping her friend up on a bench, Rainbow Dash called out to Twilight Sparkle, "Twilight, get over here now!"

"What's going on, Rainbow?" Twilight asked, putting her books down and making her way to the bench by the table.

"That shadow attacked us. It swallowed up Discord and left some kind of residue on Fluttershy."

A murky black mass clanged to Fluttershy's side, pulsing slightly, as though breathing. "How do we get it off? Get it off!" Fluttershy cried in a panic.

"Relax, Fluttershy." Said Twilight Sparkle reassuringly, "It doesn't appear to be doing much…" The pulsating appendage clinging to Fluttershy was immobile and calm, as though dormant and silently waiting.

"Have you found anything useful, Spike?" Asked Twilight Sparkle, directing her attention back to the stack of books tossed aside in her research.

"Nothing yet." Piped in Spike, "No mention of sticky darkness, or shadows, or anything in these old books…"

"Well, there's got to be something!" Worry pressed down on Twilight Sparkles tone, an uncontrollable event looming over her.

"I'm scared, Rainbow Dash…" said Fluttershy quietly.

"It's going to be ok, Fluttershy. Twilight will think of something."

Twilight summoned a quill and paper from a drawer near the table. "Come here Rainbow Dash, I need you to describe what you saw."

"Well…" Rainbow Dash began as Twilight prepared her notes. "When we approached it, it seemed to notice us, like it was alive. Discord even seemed to recognize it. After a while, a face appeared in it and it swallowed Discord up, then chased us away."

"Can you describe it's movements?"

"I guess you could say it slithered around, like a snake…"

"But it was all wormy too!" Interrupted Fluttershy. "Parts would wiggle out and try to grab you!"

"That description doesn't match anything I've researched!" moaned Twilight Sparkle, "We still don't have a clue what this thing is, but it's clearly hostile! And we've lost Discord…"

Then, Applejack and Pinkie Pie entered, calling out, "Hey Twilight, we're back!" Pinkie Pie soon took notice of the distraught Fluttershy in the corner. "What's happened to you, Fluttershy?" She asked with a gasp.

"That shadow to the north attack me, and now this things on me!" Fluttershy responded.

Applejack approach with a look of concern painted on her face. "Do feel alright, sugar cube?" She asked softly

"Yeah, yeah, I feel okay." Fluttershy said, calming slightly, "It's not doing anything. But, we don't really know what it does!"

"We don't know anything!" Shouted Twilight Sparkle, "We've got to think of something though! It's not like the answers going to come bursting through my front door!"

Just then, a bleak Rarity burst through front door, trotting over to the table and slamming down the book she carried with her on the table. She then collapsed into a chair by the table. "What on earth happened to you?" Twilight asked.

"Oh it was dreadful!" Rarity began in her usual dramatic way, "Canterlot was creepily empty and the palace was very dark. I found that book waiting for me in the throne room before a terrifying shadowy thing chased me out of town!"

"What about Princess Celestia?" Asked Applejack.

"That shadow must've done something awful to her!" Said Rarity, "I found her trembling in the corner of the room, but she was pitch black!"

"Did you see a face!?" Rainbow Dash asked, very suddenly.

"Well, yes!" Said Rarity, "Before being chased out, a face appear and asked me if I believed in legends…"

"Well that's appropriate…" Said Spike, flipping through the book on the table, "Because this is a book of old time legends, dating thousands of years ago."

"Keep reading, Spike." Said Twilight Sparkle, temper settling, "That book was meant to be found! Applejack, Pinkie Pie; what's the state of the town?"

"Everypony in town's been warned!" Squeaked Pinkie Pie, her happy demeanor unaffected by the situation.

"The town could use some more food stocks though," Said Applejack, "In case of emergency and all. I was plannin' on rounding up some food from the farm and bringin' it into town."

"That's sounds like a great idea," Said Twilight Sparkle, calming considerably, "Why don't you take Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie to lend you a hand?"

"No, no, I've got it!" Applejack insisted, "Besides, with sick Fluttershy, all them shadows and the big book of legends, you're gonna need all the help you can get."

Before exiting, Applejack stopped by Fluttershy, "Don't worry none, sugar cube." She said, comforting the uneasy Fluttershy, "I'm sure Twilight will think of something!"

"I know…" Said Fluttershy softly and uneasily, "I'm just worried is all. About Discord, Princess Celestia and all this darkness…"

"Stay strong, Fluttershy…" Applejack said before heading out the door into the town.

"Hey, I think I found something!" yelled Spike, pointing to a page in the book.

"What is it?" Asked the ponies, save Fluttershy, gathering around the table. "There's an old story in here. In it, the character Ponietheus battles the titanous Alicorns, appearing as a shadowy black mass…"

"'Ponietheus Bound'? I've heard that story," Said an unconvinced Twilight Sparkle, "It's an just an old legend, what does it have to do with anything?"

"Well listen to the description of Ponietheus's shadow form!" Said Spike, "It says, 'he appeared cloaked in shadow, casting a black magic that seemed to slither from his horn, latching itself on alicorn attackers and consuming them in darkness.' It's sounds like the shadow Rarity and Rainbow Dash saw!"

Pinkie Pie, suddenly and oddly intrigued, picked up the book and began intently reading the tale. "It is a close description…" Said Fluttershy in the background, quietly. Rainbow Dash voice soon overpowered hers, "I don't know, Twilight. I wouldn't describe it as sticky. More like slithery!"

"I certainly would describe it as sticky!" Chimed in Rarity, "And he said it latches to ponies and covers them in darkness? Sounds like what it did to Princess Celestia…"

"…Oh my, am I going to turn all black too?…" squeaked a quiet Fluttershy, who was quickly ignored.

"Maybe this story's important? There's no doubt that some sentient force is behind this shadow, maybe it's using this story as template. Pinkie Pie, remind me what Ponietheus used this magic for in the story?"

"He used it to stop the alicorns, it looks like…" Pinkie Pie said, eyes still glued to the book. "He used it to curse the alicorns and control them. I feel bad for this Ponietheus guy, it looks he was just trying to protect the ponies he cared about…"

"I doubt whoever's behind this darkness is in it for protection…" Said a callous Rainbow Dash, rolling her eyes at the prospect, "The pony behind this has got to be out for that controlling part! He's trying to take over, I'll bet!"

Fluttershy sat on the bench in the background, trying desperately to join into the conversation, but her small voice was easily outmatched by the other ponies. She had some ideas, too. "Maybe whoever's behind this is trying to change everything, like Ponietheus did in the stories…" She said softly.

Her words were easily passed over, as the other discussed their own theories. Fluttershy was strangely hurt by this negligence, like the hurt was being injected into her. Suddenly, the audible noise of the room seemed to blur, and the colors faded around her, like she was slipping away.

"…heh….hel..p…"

Words won't come out right. She could tell the blurred images of her friends couldn't hear her. A spike a panic shout up her as everything grew dark. All the matter in the room, even the room itself, faded out intp complete darkness.

"Is anypony there?" Fluttershy called out, perching herself upward. Words came easily now, but everything around her was dark and indistinguishable, like her eyes where closed. She panicked, and pushed herself in the direction she remembered her friends being. "Hello? Somepony help me!"

Soon, as she moved, she felt her body get heavier, and she collapsed in a strange and sudden fatigue. Then, words came to her ears, in a voice like hers, but wrapped in leaded sorrow.

"Oh, Fluttershy. Being misunderstood hurts, yes. But what's much worse is to be ignored." it said. The words crashed into her.

"Sure, your friends want you're companionship and you're skills, but only on their terms. They don't care what else you have to offer. Did you see them discussing what to do without even including you, without even asking what you think or what you feel or what you know? They expect you to just do as you're told, be a good little gear in the machine while they just stick you in the background. But it's better then the shallow life you live alone in the forest. Is that why you follow them? Because they give you a sense of purpose? You know you have no purpose, there's nothing great waiting for you. You will never be able to show what you think and feel. You're potential will never be realized."

Suddenly, the ponies in Twilight's library heard a crackling scream come from Fluttershy. The turned to see her eyes completely black, as though covered by the same murky shadow they were trying to identify. The darkness crawled from her eyes, and the patch latched to her side, and inked all over her body. Fluttershy was completely dark.

"Fluttershy? What's wrong with her?" Shouted Pinkie Pie, rushing over to the bench she occupied.

"Oh goodness…" Stuttered Rarity, slinking backwards, "She looks just like Princess Celestia did when I entered that throne room…"

Twilight Sparkle rushed over to the catatonic Fluttershy. Using her hoof to turn the afflicted pony over, Twilight shot back. "She's so cold…" Twilight said in shock.

Shadows crept from Fluttershy's back, darkening the corner she occupied. Rarity jumped in a panic. "Oh no! We've got to get out of here! This is exactly what happened in the throne room!"

"Rarity!" Shouted Pinkie Pie, backing up from the growing shadow, "What's happening?"

"I have no idea!"

The home trembled as shadows grew from Fluttershy's backside, accompanied on all sides by a foul wind, circulating the home and tearing down the books and shelves. They soon lurched to her forefront and spiral about themselves until fashioning a round doorway. A brazen white horn stuck it's way the dark portal. With the exception of the sharp tip, it was woven among with old bandages.

The ponies, except Rainbow Dash, huddled together. Spike backed his way to the door. Rainbow Dash positioned herself between the portal and her friends, lowering her head in a challenge. Two metallic hooves crashed from the opening to the floorboards, and a head stuck it's way thru. The forefront of a tall, brooding white pony stood before them, covered in bandages as though mummified. The armor and necklace he bore appeared rusted, twisted and decrepit, as though left to nature for a millennia. White skin shown thru a hole at his nose, and around a bright blue left eye, staring down at the ponies amongst the stains of black tears.

"What have you done to Fluttershy, you cur!" Rainbow Dash shouted amongst a howling wind at the invader, standing defiantly before him. He tilted his head and rotated it right, looking down at Rainbow Dash with his exposed left eye. A voice akin to the sounds of the depths of the earth filled the room, and to each it sounded like it originated from inside their heads.

"Come and see…" It said in a deep whisper. At the call of it's master, the spiraling darkness halted, suspending itself in the air, moving ever so slowly. The house they occupied faded into a dark background, as though the colors themselves blended together to signal a departure from reality. The white beast stood whole now, in his decadent form, and stepped aside to reveal Fluttershy behind him. She was huddled, and wept black tears from darkened eyes. Her pallet greyed, but color remand. She was squalid and dim.

"Fluttershy!" Shouted Rainbow Dash, alone before them. "Fluttershy, it's okay! I'm here!"

She did not respond, but soon shrieked. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash heard Fluttershy's voice in her head shouting, "It's never going to get any better! I'll never be anything but this!" The word's, combined with indistinguishable whispers and general reverb, spiraled about themselves, and it felt as though they were trashing about in a cage in Rainbow Dashes head. She grasped her head in pain, falling back onto her flank.

Rainbow Dash directed her attention to the silent white beast in the corner, who stood still and silent, watching. "What are you? Why are you doing this?"

"I shall come forth conquering…. and to conquer." It's head tilted about as it talked, it's eye fixated on Rainbow Dash. Thoughts, whispers, doubts, fears; they all collapsed on Rainbow Dash at once, heavy and tenacious. She forced herself upward.

"I'm not afraid of you!" She shouted at the bandaged beast. His exposed nose scrunched at the words, his eye went wide and his pupil shrunk. He positioned himself towards Rainbow Dash, as though angry.

"Feel AFRAID!" He shouted, the dark realm around them getting even darker as it trembled. Rainbow Dash felt heavier.

"RAINBOW DASH, LET'S GO!" Came a shriek from Twilight Sparkle.

Rainbow Dash was snapped back to the reality in Twilight's home, complete with a dark maelstrom, circulation from the black gate way the bandaged beast stood in. Twilight Sparkle pushed Rainbow Dash in the direction of the door. Spike threw it open as the four ponies approached.

"Wait! What about Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash shouted, making her way to the door with Twilight.

"There's nothing we can do!" She responded, "We've got to go!"

"Feel Afraid!" Came a shrill cry from the dark harbinger, launching a pillar of darkness up thru the tree into the sky, creating a spiraling storm that soon covered the land about Twilight's home. Herself, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity burst out of the corrupted home, fleeing into the street. Lightning struck nearby building, sending spiraling shocks down the houses and shops. The citizens fled about in a panic. The darkness approached from the North, combining itself with the pillar above Twilight Sparkle's home and the one about Canterlot. The storm clouds covered the sun, and it soon began to rain a black liquid.

The group made their way towards a rapidly rising moon at the edge of town. They soon happened upon a small bridge crossing a stream. Lightning blasted it's way to the bridge, destroying it utterly before the ponies could cross. They halted, turning to see the dark harbinger approaching behind them. The moon parted a section of the cloud.

Princess Luna descended from on high, positioning herself between the four ponies, Spike and the fiend before them. "Flee!" She commanded them, "Into the forest! My magic can only protect a small area. I shall meet you all there shortly!" Twilight Sparkle quickly obeyed, swooping up Spike and proceeding into the stream, her friends following close behind.

The dark harbinger stood in the shadow of the town, glaring over at the Princess. He did not advance nor deliver taunts and ill givings. He just watched her silently.

"Hello, Luna." he called with a calm, stern voice after a time. The surrounding land calmed, and trashing debris froze in place.

"Begone, foul creature!" Luna called out, sending shockwaves up into the air, parting clouds from the area over the forest and casting the moon's rays down upon the small section of land. "Cast away the woe you wrought! Spare these creatures lest they find a way to defeat thee!"

The clouds halted around Luna's barriers as soldiers await a commanders invasion order. The dark horse seem disappointed at words cast against him. His magic storm awaited, but he did not send it at her, nor did he advance towards the bridge. "I dare them to try." He said coldly. "Flee into your forest, Luna. I'll be awaiting your next move."

He turned and made his way back into the darkened town, which now grew still and quiet. Luna stood at the bridge, stunned at the lack of confrontation. She pulled back, deep into the forest to rejoin with Twilight Sparkle. The storm clouds began to crack, and a light black rain started to fall.


	3. Chapter 3: Feel Afraid

"The weekly meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders will now come to order!" chimed a gleeful Apple Bloom in the accompaniment of her two filly school friends in their tree house. "Roll Call! Apple Bloom…Check! Sweetie Belle?" Sweetie Belle poked her head up from the piles of activities she had scribbled on many lists before her. "Check!" she squeaked.

"Ok, Scootaloo?"

Scootaloo pulled her head from the nearby window and back towards her fellow crusaders. "Yeah, yeah, I'm here." She muttered before sticking her head back out the window. "Alright, Roll Call complete!" Said the ever joyful Apple Bloom, "Sweetie Belle, what's on the agenda for today?" "Well…" said Sweetie Belle, "We haven't tried acting yet!"

Just then, a powerful lighting strike cracked in the distance, sending a boom of thunder through the tree house. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle jumped the sudden noise, but Scootaloo leaped in excitement. "Did you guys here THAT!?" She cried exuberantly, "Acting can wait, today we should try being weather ponies!" Before any objections could be made, the three were spurred by a calling outside.

"Apple Bloom?" Called a concerned Applejack. "This storm's gettin' bad fast! How 'bout you and your friends come into the house for a while?"

"But Applejack!" Whined Apple Bloom, sticking her head out the window. "We're in the middle of our Cutie Mark Crusaders weekly meetin'!"

"I wasn't really asking, Apple Bloom." responded Applejack, "Get on into the house right now!" The air around grow more stagnant and heavy. The dark clouds overhead leered down.

"Ok, ok…" moaned Apple Bloom in disappointment, gathering her friends to be corralled into the house. The clouds overhead stirred as the wind picked up, breathing life into the sticks, leaves and debris that took gentle flight as the three fillies crawled out of their treehouse towards the epicenter of the farm. Applejack felt tension build in her back as she lead the small ponies, who continued to talk amongst themselves in chipper, squeaky tones.

Applejack took notice of the darker landscape. The greens and browns of the farm had a grey presence hung over them, and the bright red apples on the trees were dim. It felt like dusk, but it should've been mid afternoon. The clouds overhead seemed to hum and vibrate with a deep rumble, as if patiently waiting to be cracked open.

As they all neared the porch, a huge pillar shot up in the distance, towards the town. It spiraled about itself, turning the grey clouds around deep and black. Although far away, the wind in the farm picked up tremendously, and the overcast was increasingly dim. The atmosphere felt thicker, and the clouds pressed down on them.

"Get into the house, all of you!" Applejack shouted, rushing the startled fillies into the wooden house, slamming the door shut behind them. The wind howled outside, throwing itself against the barriers of the house.

"What kind of storm is this, Applejack?" came a soft cry from Scootaloo, huddled with her friends.

"A very violent one," She responded. "Keep away from the windows! Get to the closet under the stairs! Move!" Applejack herded the frightened fillies into a closet in the center of the house, away from the violent storm outside. The lights in the house flickered before bursting, sending sparks trickling down into the darker rooms. Applejack gathered the fillies near her, and lit an old lantern stored in the creaky old closet.

The storm trashed outside, it's roars muffled by the closed closet door.

"Woo-wee!" Applejack said, trying to ease the tension in the fillies as well as the maternal panic pulsation racing thru her veins. "There hasn't been a storm quite like this in a long time."

"Where are the pegasi?" squeaked Sweetie Belle, "How come they haven't tried to calm the storm?"

"Yeah!" Piped in Scootaloo, "They should totally have this under control, right."

"Well, they sure do try…" Said Applejack, "But sometimes, Mother Nature just has to have her way. Don't you all worry none, though! This house has endured worse!"

"Did you see that big black pillar shoot up in the sky?" Said Apple Bloom, peering up uneasily at her big sister. "It looked like it came from Twilight Sparkle's house!"

Little white lies fluttered about Applejacks head; ways to cover the truth, to reassure her little sister, to calm her own nerves. The wind bustled outside, pushing itself up against the house.

` Applejack decided to come clean.

"I have no idea what that pillar was, Apple Bloom. But we're safe in here. Storms like this usually pass as quick as they come!" She focused down at Apple Bloom's two little friends, "When it dies down, you two ought to run home. I'm sure your folks are worried sick about ya."

A squalid draft passed thru the closet suddenly. Applejack felt a shock go up her spine, and she stiffened. The muffled sounds of the outside storms gave way to a soft hum, then a slight ring. She felt like she could hear soft voices, talking amongst each other in her head.

"Feel afraid…" Came a whisper from the back of her mind, in no voice she'd heard before.

She whipped around, facing the door. Her ears shot up, and she pressed into the floor.

"Did you here that too?" cooed a frightened Sweetie Belle, taking notice of Applejack sudden shift to a swift defensive pose. "Yeah, did it sound like a whisper to you?" She asked, attention still fixed on the closed door. The wind outside had stopped.

"Hey, I heard a whisper too!" cried Scootaloo, poking her head up. "I couldn't really make out what it said though!"

Applejack couldn't hear anything outside. It was dead quiet.

"I heard it too." Said Apple Bloom, standing tall. "I think it said, 'feel afraid'. Well, I'm not scared of anythin'!"

The room was too still, and the space outside the door to quiet. Applejack couldn't stand it.

"Well, I feel afraid!" squeaked Sweetie Belle, trembling in the corner. "Mission accomplished, whisper!"

"Shh!" interjected Applejack. In the newfound silence, a soft pitter patter could be hurt above, on the roof.

"Is it rainin'?" Asked Apple Bloom, "That sounds like rain."

Applejack's thoughts raced about.

"The wind's died down, too. Maybe the storms over!" Said Scootaloo.

"Umm, remember the scary pillar and scary whisper!" Said Sweetie Belle, still cowering in the corner of the closet. "I don't care it the winds gone, I'm staying here."

"All three of you are stayin' here." Said Applejack in an authoritative tone. All her attention was still fixated on the door. "I'm going to look around."

"But Applejack!" Squeaked Apple Bloom in objection, "You can't go by yourself! Haven't you ever seen a scary movie! The one that goes out by themselves always gets it first!"

"This is not a horror movie, Apple Bloom." Applejack said very sternly, making her way to the door. "Now I told you to stay put, and you're stayin' put! Are we clear?"

Apple Bloom sank back down, resigned to failure. "Yes, ma'am." she moaned.

Pushing the door open with her hoof, Applejack pressed into the rooms outside. The kitchen, the hallways, they all sat still, in place, as if stopped in time. The house waited patiently and silently as Applejack made her way to a window in the kitchen, a few feet from the closet. The space outside was still, debris; branches, rocks, dirt, all floated in place, apart from a subtle, soft black rain beating down upon the still grey earth. She brought herself to the windowsill, and peered up wordlessly at the bleak, bitter rain, the only movement in the still dark landscape. The horizon blended together, and Applejack couldn't see past the edges of the farm.

A droplet of black liquid dripped from the ceiling onto the floor of the closet, forming a small puddle at the feet of the quiet fillies, all peering out the door at Applejack. The splash made a soft splatter as it struck the floorboards. Sweetie Belle, at the back to the group, heard the sound over her shoulder. She peered back at the formulating puddle in the back of the closet.

"Ew, what's this?" She whispered, drawing the other's attention to the small puddle, being fed by a constant albeit slow drip from the ceiling above. "It looks like some kind of black liquid."

"Applejack!" Apple Bloom called out across the still house at her big sister.

Applejack's gaze stayed fixed on the outside, but her ears flickered back towards the closet.

"What is it, Apple Bloom?" she asked, softly.

"There's some kinda dark water drippin' from the ceilin' in here…"

Scootaloo stuck her small hoof into the puddle, which slowly grew. It was very cold to the touch. Her hoof stung, sending shivers and impulses up her arm. She pulled it back swiftly. The black liquid lingered, maintaining it's attachment despite her sudden attempts to shake it off. "Uck, what is this stuff?"

Applejack retreated back to closet, still mindful of the uncanny stillness but concern shifting to the fillies she guarded. Scootaloo remained relatively calm, definitely the calmest of the bunch, as she studied the substance encased on the end of her hoof. Applejack pushed thru the fillies, all gathered around Scootaloo. The puddle in the closet pulsated, spreading slightly as the leak in the ceiling continued to trickle down.

"If you don't know what it is, then why'd you touch it?" Applejack asked, aggravation mixing in with the apprehension churning in her stomach. She herded the fillies out of the closet moving into the kitchen. The landscape outside retained it's silence.

"I dunno!" Whined Scootaloo, holding the effected hoof away from herself, "I was just curious; It look'd like water, but it didn't at the same time. I wanted to know what it was!"

"This isn't just any old storm, is it, Applejack?" asked Sweetie Belle in a weak voice. She peered out the window into the same bleak land that had encapsulated the farm in an overbearing stillness.

"No, it ain't." Applejack couldn't lie to them, even if they were frightened. "Alright y'all, here's the plan." She had no plan, but had to retain control. All storms pass in time, and she just had to keep the little fillies, and herself, occupied in the meantime.

"Scootaloo, wash your hoof in that sink over yonder; scrub it with soap and see if you can get it off. Sweetie Belle, you're on watch duty. Keep an eye on the outside and holler if you see anything suspicious. Apple Bloom, you're comin' with me upstairs. Grab some towels and some two by fours from the supply closet; we're going to plug that leak."

A weak plan, Applejack thought, but at least it's a plan. "And nopony go anywhere alone, got it?"

She and her kid sister headed to the closet and gathered their supplies, mindful of the growing puddle on the floor. Applejack carried the towels and plywood while Apple Bloom lit the way with the lantern. The two worked their way to the base of the stairs, and peered up to the dim second floor. "You don't have any idea what to do about any of this, do you Applejack?" Apple Bloom asked thru the lantern in her teeth, surprisingly calm.

"Not really, no."

Applejack took the lantern from her sister and worked her way up the stairs. It was hard to see the hallway at the top. She felt her little sister behind her like a shadow, matching her slow, careful pace. The lantern soon lit the cusp of the hallway upstairs, brightening the damp central hub there. The open doors to the next rooms maintain their deep darkness, however, and seemed to inch back with a hiss at the introduction of a light source.

"What room do you think the leak's in, Applejack?"

"My best guess is your bedroom. I'm pretty sure it's directly over that closet."

Applejack found the churning of dread in her stomach temporarily ease by a bit of pride at the calmness of her kid sister. Apple Bloom kept her head up and in the moment, peeking into her bedroom as Applejack set the tamp down in the doorway. It lit the room, albeit slightly, and the two could clearly see the leak. The black rain seeped thru the ceiling, collapsing to the floor and gathering at the edges of the floorboards, filling the cracks between them. Applejack threw a towel over the residue, and the black rain fell upon it, spreading out like veins or roots. Each subsequent drop fed the beast, pulsating thru the veins on the towel, making them thicker and more apparent. At the epicenter, the liquid gathered, slowly seeping to the edges of the towel, inching closer with each drop.

"This ain't no kind of rain, that's for sure." Apple Bloom said, rather disturbed at the behavior of the liquid on the towel. "It seems almost alive."

Applejack put the modicum of wooden planks she carried down on the floor. She hadn't thought about getting up to the ceiling. "How on earth do you suppose we're going to get up there, Apple Bloom?"

"We got a ladder, don't we?"

"That's out in the barn. And I ain't goin' out there, are you?"

"No way! Dang, where's Big Macintosh when you need him?"

Applejack hadn't thought of her brother. Her mind shot to him out in the apple fields, trapped by the black rain, struggling to make his way to the farm house.

Sensing her sister's hesitation, Apple Bloom gave Applejack a quick jab. "Hey, do you think we could find some chairs or somethin' lying around up here? We could use it to get a boost!"

"That's a good idea," Said Applejack quickly, snapping back to reality. "Let's poke around the nearby rooms."

Scootaloo ran her hoof under the water in the sink. However, the more she worked to get the black residue off, the tighter it seemed to latch. It flattened itself, almost like it was sinking in. She tried next to pull it off, and clutched it in her teeth before quickly releasing it and pulling back. When she bit the residue, it hurt. "Sweetie Belle…" she whispered.

Sweetie Belle snapped up from the window at the end of the kitchen. "What is it?"

"This stuff won't come off!"

"Have you tried washing it?"

"Of course I tried washing it! I tried scrubbing it and scraping it and biting it, too! It won't come off!"

Scootaloo hoped down from the sink and made her way to the center of the room where Sweetie Belle was standing, her black hoof leaving trails as she walked. She plopped down in front of her friend, front hoof in the air. She was more annoyed then afraid.

Sweetie Belle examined the infected hoof and the darkness that had taken possession there. "This isn't rain water, whatever it is. I don't even think it's liquid anymore."

"You're not helping." Flickers of fear were felt in Scootaloo's voice. She began to tremble.

"Hey, hey, relax!" Sweetie Belle cooed. "I don't think it's doing anything, look, it's not even doing anything."

The dark mass on Scootaloo's upright hoof soon churned about itself, forming a small pillar. It launched itself at Sweetie Belle.

A sudden squall of sharp screams burst from the down stairs. The two sisters gathered at the top, and peered down in a sharp panic. "Scootaloo? Sweetie Belle? What's goin' on down there?" Apple Bloom called down into the dark. The house recollected the still silence that had occupied it's halls before the sudden screams.

Apple Blooms eyes widened. "I'm comin', ladies!" She cried before rushing downstairs.

"Hold on, Apple Bloom; you wait for me!" Applejack rushed after her sister.

The two came upon Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in the kitchen, each crumpled on the floor, draped in a desecrate black; like they were consumed by their own shadows. They trembled to themselves, huddled and whimpering.

Apple Bloom pushed into the room, running to her friends. "Applejack, what's wrong with them? What's happening?"

"Apple Bloom, get back!"

Apple Bloom approached the collapsed Sweetie Belle. She reached out to shake her, but the cold rush of the touch made her pull back. The darkness lingered, attaching itself to her hoof.

"Apple Bloom, get away from them!" Applejack rushed in, pulling her little sister out of the room, back out into the hallway.

"I need to help them, Applejack! There's got to be something I can do!"

"There's nothing you can do right now! Just stay back!"

"…nothing?" Apple Bloom whimpered, eyes still fixed on the kitchen and the trembling disposition of her two friends. Applejack stood over her, blocking Apple Bloom's movement with her hoof.

"We don't know anything about this stuff, we've got to sit tight and-"

She felt Apple Bloom grow very cold; a burning cold. She whipped her attention to her little sister's face. Apple Bloom's eyes grew black amongst a horror draped on her face. She began to whimper in place, crying black tears.

"Apple Bloom! What's wrong with you?!"

Applejack grabbed hold of her, but felt herself thrown back. She was launched into the kitchen, crashing against the cabinets and into the ground. The house seemed to cry. She pushed herself back up, shaking off the pain in her back and the sudden regiment of sullen whispers circulating in her head; all filled with a trembling despair. She felt heavier.

"Apple Bloom!?"

Words were harder to make. The world around her leered down as she gazed up at her little sister, all other stimuli losing her attention. A darkness poured from Apple Bloom's eyes as tears, turning her whole body dark. She fell to the floor as if a terrible weight crashed into her back.

"Oh, no!" cried the mortified Applejack. She crawled her way to her baby sister, her head beating in pain at an onset of indiscernible whispers, all shouting and pounding in their own way. "Oh, no, no, no, no! Apple Bloom!" She forced her way to the little filly, picking her up and shaking her. "Respond Apple Bloom! Say something, anything!" Apple Bloom remained catatonic and silent, apart from whimpers, and did not acknowledge her sister in the slightest.

"Oh, no, no, no!" murmured the panicked Applejack, setting her sister down. The black shadow that had consumed the fillies covered her front like an abysmal mud. The whispers and the weight stop, and the house grew still and silent once more. The tapping of the rain outside and the soft whimpers of the three fillies faded out.

All Applejack could do was scream. "Help! Big Macintosh? Granny Smith? Somepony help!" She screamed at the empty house. The rain outside quickened to a frantic burst, coinciding with the pounding in Applejack chest. She hollered herself hoarse. "Help!" The house sat back quietly.

Induced by fear, Applejack burst to the outside, paying little attain to the rain that came crashing down and ran the direction of town. "Help!" She continued to bellow, "Somepony help me!" He cries fell on a silent, black rain, and as she galloped towards the town, the world seemed to fade out. The sounds of the rain beating against her ears gave way to silence, and she couldn't see much any more. "What's goin' on? Hello?!" She cried out into the darkness. "Is anypony there? Answer me!"

She wandered aimlessly in a complete blackout, calling out into the bitter void she occupied. Applejack soon collapsed into the black dirt, panting. She sat in considerable stillness and silence, like she'd faded out of reality into a blank, dark landscape. She couldn't move anymore. Her muscles stiff, her voice quiet. She could only pant, and think. Her mind raced.

Yet, in her shallow defeat, she soon heard a familiar voice, calling to her in a somber, sad tone.

"So grown up, Applejack. So mature." it said, "You worked very hard to get where you are. Everything you have, you earned, right? Save that farm you inherited, that big strong brother of yours to help you in your chores, and the fact that you owe your destiny to a rainbow that just so happened to pierce the sky at the right time. You don't seem to have as firm a grip on your life as you like to think you do."

Those words fell upon Applejack, driving her further down. "So many events, so much of you're life and happiness depends on those you've surrounded yourself with. But you know the way the world works, you know time will take them all away. Why would you put so much of yourself into the hands of finite relationships? Is that why you insist to do everything on your own, why you're so slow to accept their help. Because you know they'll be gone one day, and if you're not prepared, that day will destroy you. You're not prepared for it though, you couldn't even save your sister without running out for help. You like to call yourself dependable, but all you are is dependent."

Applejack lay outside her home in the dirt, covered in the same darkness that had spread throughout the landscape; the same that had infected her sister, her friends. She lay shivering in the cold black rain that beat against her backside, it's sound drowning out her whimpers.


	4. Chapter 4: Reprieve

The forest churned around Twilight Sparkle and her friends as they all gathered in a clearing. The large, long leaves on the trees shook slightly in a breeze, and the group was surrounded on all sides by crackles and snips of sound echoing from the wood. The forest was still very much alive, untouched by the still storms that raged outside it's borders. A full bright moon lit the clearing, glowing down on the four ponies and the baby dragon that occupied it's space, all catching their breath and calming their hearts. Thoughts buzzed in Twilight Sparkle's head, crashing against the borders of her mind and thrashing about in her skull. She thought of Fluttershy, Celestia and Discord; each trapped in the darkness. She thought of the destruction stewing in her home and of the tall white beast that brought it. She thought of him leering down on her, gazing with that pale blue eye exposed from those sickly bandages, and all that grim metal. She thought of the disease he wrought upon her home, and on her friends and comrades.

Lastly she thought of Applejack.

"I'm tired of running!" Shouted Rarity thru her panting, breaking the cold, soporific silence that had cast itself upon the group.

"What was that thing? What did he do to Fluttershy?" Asked Pinkie Pie in concern, the weight of events cracking her silly veneer.

Twilight Sparkle struggled to catch her breath amongst the panic in her veins and the thoughts in her head. She shifted focus to little Spike, who leaned against her. His eyes were large, but not with fear. There was a slight sternness to them as he watched the surrounding area, like a vigilant guard. She felt a small smile form at the thought of little Spike protecting his friends.

She looked to Rarity, who sat in an aggravated and unsettled disposition. Witnessing the decadent beast first hand twice must have been difficult, Twilight thought. Rarity seemed to be collecting herself, letting off more anger than fear. She wasn't one to take defeat or retreat lightly.

Pinkie Pie, usually draped in wonder and silliness, sat rather still. She didn't seem as tired as the others, and she watched the open skies for Luna with a look of concern frozen on her face. At least she understands the gravity of the situation, Twilight thought. The figure that had stuck his head throw that black portal was a force to be taken very seriously. Seriously enough for Pinkie Pie to get a bit serious.

Lastly, Twilight Sparkle's thoughts happened upon Rainbow Dash. She sat away from the others, her back up against a nearby tree. She looked very disturbed, much more shaken by the events than the others. An uncharacteristic uneasiness floated about the brash pony, strong enough for Twilight to sense it.

Her mind flashed back to the confrontation at her home:

_"What have you done to Fluttershy, you cur!" Rainbow Dash had shouted._

_ Twilight remembered a flash that had filled the room, one seen and felt. The pulse had knocked all but Rainbow Dash backwards. The violent room slowed, all the books and debris hovering about, turning slowly. The dark harbinger, levitating from his portal, flickered as his exposed left eye went a magnificent, somniferous white._

_ Twilight remembered a clawing, and a high pitched squeal in her head, and she felt heavier. But Rainbow Dash's eyes went dark, and she was slowly lifted into the air but an unseen force. Her head trembled and flickered, and she let out squeaks as the beast's head mimicked her movements._

_ 'He must be crawling around in our heads' she had theorized, forcing herself upwards against a great pressure holding her down. She tried to speak, but words wouldn't form properly. She had felt her brain pulsating, beating against her skull. A massive migraine coursed thru her head._

_ "Rainbow Dash!" She had called weakly. She had managed to push her way to her feet._

_ "Rainbow! Can you hear me?" Looks of dread had been flashing on Rainbow Dash's face, hear eyes blacked out. A whimpering dark Fluttershy sobbed in the corner._

_ "Stop this! Stop!" That one had managed some volume. The squeals of the room raised in pitch, but the pressure uplifted. Twilight found movement easier. The floating books and furniture began to rotate faster._

_ "RAINBOW DASH! LET'S GO!" She had shrieked. The darkness left Rainbow Dash's eye's as she came crashing to the ground and the group collectively fled._

"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight called out softly, trying to sound sweet and caring. "Are you all right?"

Rainbow Dash appeared to snap back to reality, as if pulled from a dream or overwhelming thought. She gave a look like she just now realized where she was, the reality she occupied.

"Rainbow?"

"Yeah, yeah… I'm ok!" She said in a shaky voice. Twilight Sparkle was unconvinced.

"Why don't you come over here? Closer to the rest of us?"

"No, I-…I'm fine right here."

"Rainbow, I need you to talk to use about what he did to you."

"He didn't do anything! I'm fine, I told you!"

"Rainbow!" Twilight's aura of sweet motherly understanding gave way to a sharp tone and aggravation, "Your eyes went black! He was rooting around in your head! Put aside your pride and talk to us!"

"Stop it!" Rainbow Dash cried, her voice cracking and trembling. She curled up at the base of the tree.

"Hey, calm down Twilight." came a soft coo from Spike, "Relax, she'll talk to us when she's ready."

"I got this one, Twilight. It's ok." Said Pinkie Pie. She walked slowly over to Rainbow Dash, sitting down near her, but still keeping herself at a comfortable distance. Rainbow Dash's eyes were clamped shut, her head buried in her hoofs. Twilight felt the spark of agitation fade. She calmed and sat back into the warmth of the soothing sounds of the forest.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash. How are you holding up?" Pinkie Pie asked softly. That look of concern remained on her face.

"I don't wanna talk about it! Don't make me talk about!" Rainbow Dash snapped, her voice raspy and weak. She remained buried in her hooves.

"I'm not going to ask you about what happened, I just want to know how you're feeling."

"Not very good! Can't you tell?"

Pinkie Pie inched closer.

"It's ok to be scared, Rainbow. The noise, the whispers, the wind; that by itself was overwhelming, let alone having that big scary guy go rooting around in your head. But it's ok now, Rainbow. You're here with your friends, and he's back there. Try calming down now."

Rainbow Dash whimpered, but exhaled and brought her head up.

Twilight had never seen Pinkie Pie so calm and in control. She honestly thought that silly pony didn't have it in her. It just reminded her how grave the situation had become. The kingdom was lost, Fluttershy corrupted, Celestia and Discord gone… And Applejack missing. She moved her attention up, to the sky, looking for Princess Luna.

Spike got up, and made his way to Rainbow Dash's retreat. He motioned passed Pinkie Pie and sat beside the settling Rainbow Dash and put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's over now, Rainbow Dash." He said, surprisingly calmly. "We're safe here and you don't have to worry now."

"Yes, it's all right now!" Pipped in Rarity, collecting herself and moving over to the enclave Rainbow Dash occupied. "Mr. Sticky-Darkness can't get in here, and he isn't going to make us run around anymore." Her remark summoned an uneasy smile from Rainbow Dash.

Twilight felt the cue that she should chime in, the guilt from losing her temple settling on her stomach. "I'm sorry I raised my voice at you." She said, moving over by Pinkie Pie and Rarity. "This whole thing has got us all stressed, and I didn't consider your feelings. It's easy to try to bury the emotions and thoughts you'd rather not have, but that won't make them go away. I'd like you to tell us what happened, but I'm not going to force anything out of you, Rainbow. And I am very glad that you're ok."

Rainbow Dash chuckled thru her terrified sniffles and shakes. "Ok softie brigade…" She joked weakly and rather softly, "Keep this up and I'll end up as girly as you guys."

"Except me, of course!" boasted Spike, feeding of the implanted easiness the group was injecting into the trembling and frightened atmosphere.

"Ha! Especially you, little Spikey-Wikey!" Rainbow Dash teased, nudging the little dragon.

The group managed to muster a laugh. Laughter was a welcome feeling in the stress of the night, the moonbeams beating down on the tired group. Rainbow Dash got herself up, smiling weakly thru her uneasiness, but a good feeling was settling on all of them. They all soon heard the sounds of Princess Luna descending from the sky and landing in the clove.

She a strange look of shock about her; a confused surprise captured on her face. Her stance was heavy, her mind burdened by hazed thoughts, half remembered dreams and shackled memories.

"Princess! It's good to see your ok!" Announced Twilight Sparkle among the fragile peace blanketing the clove. "What happened?"

"It was the strangest thing…" Luna began, stills of uncertainty brushing over her words. "The dark harbinger backed away, like he was allowing me passage. He slinked back into the darkened depths of the town. He stated that he is eagerly awaiting our next move."

"'Next move?'" Shouted Rarity in indignation. "Is this some game to him? Well, I don't think so. No cretin gets to just waltz in and mess up this pony's life! I will not stand for this!" Her brazen attitude faltered and sunk back into the realm of uncertainty.

"Umm… So what exactly is our next move?"

"Well, there's no way we can take that guy head on." Said Spike, retaining his mature and calm stature. Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but be proud of the little dragon. "He's way out of our league! We've got to find a different approach this time."

"Pff… Whatever! We can take him!" came a brash cry from under the black sheet of trepidation looming over Rainbow Dash. "He only got the drop on us last time, there's no way he can handle us in a straight fight!"

"What are we supposed to fight the guy with, Rainbow?" challenged the ever vigilant Pinkie Pie, "We can't use the Elements of Harmony; Fluttershy's down and out and who knows where Applejack is. Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna are great with magic and all, but this guy took on and defeated Princess Celestia! We need to approach this super-duper carefully!"

A silence settled on the ticking minds of the cast, all pondering in the clove of the forest. Luna paused, and gathered herself before speaking. "Perhaps Spike is correct; brute force is ill suited for this beast. I think we should rely more on subterfuge."

"Subterfuge?" Asked Spike quickly, "What's that?"

"Umm… trickery; deceit." explained Luna. Twilight could sense the uncertainty in the Princess's words. 'Luna's never really dealt with things like this by herself', she thought. The periwinkle pony solidified her stature, stiffing her brow and creating a calm, orderly aura.

"Oh! Is it like going undercover?" Piped in Pinkie Pie.

"Exactly!" Responded Twilight Sparkle in a smooth, authoritative tone. Her mind buzzed carefully, pouring over what words would be best to use. She had to do everything she could to reinforce the calm atmosphere of the clove. "Taking this guy head on isn't working, so let's do the opposite."

"I don't understand…" Said a confused Rainbow Dash, visibly disappointed at the idea of a lack of confrontation. "How is sneaking around going to stop this guy?"

"There is an old saying…" Said Luna, responding to Twilight Sparkle's vibe and growing calmer, "'Information is power'. We know very little about the harbinger of darkness; who he is, what he wants, how he operates."

"All we know is a tie to a legend and how much power he holds." Said Twilight Sparkle.

"Oh, so we're going scouting? Gathering intel on the enemy!?" Squeaked Pinkie Pie, rather excited at the concept.

"Precisely!" said Twilight Sparkle.

"Um, one little problem." Said Rarity, retaining her unsettled disposition. "It's raining that black stuff that got on Fluttershy all throughout the town. If we go waltzing in there, sneaky or not, we're going to get the black stuff all over us, and then we'll end up just like her."

"Can't Princess Luna part the clouds? She can open a window for us!… uh, so to speak." suggested Spike. Twilight felt him feeding into the positive energy she was creating. It all felt rather beautiful really. Usually the group spent all their time franticly reacting in a situation like this. It was nice to stop and think for a change.

"That's a good idea, Spike, but it'll be obvious where we were. We'd stick out in that storm like a sore hoof!" Said Twilight Sparkle. "The dark harbinger would single us out in no time, then what? We'd be back at square one."

"Whilst it's true I can part the clouds in a limited area, I have to concur with Twilight Sparkle." Said Princess Luna, "However, in the name of subterfuge, such a process could provide a quaint distraction. I could conjure several proxies, and lure attention away from you."

"Uh, translation?" said a confused Spike, looking up to Twilight Sparkle.

"Remember when she made the Shadow Bolts? She could do the same thing here!" Twilight Sparkle explained, "If we could find a way to remain unaffected by the rain, Princess Luna could part the clouds to guide around a fake set of us, and distract the dark harbinger. While he fixated on 'fake us', real us could travel around unnoticed."

"That's all fine and dandy," croaked a skeptical Rarity, "But that black rain is our largest concern. How are we suppose to sneak around town unaffected by the stuff?"

"Well, I could summon a bubble," suggested Twilight Sparkle, "But I could only keep it up for a limited time, and I'd have to stay very concentrated on the spell. It would be a great last resort, but there has to be something else we can do, right?"

"Oh, I got it!" Shouted Rainbow Dash in the excitation of a sudden idea, "When characters in some of the stories I read have to go into dangerous environments, they wear 'hazmat suits'."

"What's a hazmat suit?" Asked Pinkie Pie.

"It's a big piece of clothing you wear that covers your whole body!" Explained Rainbow Dash, "If Twilight's bubble could get us to Rarity's house, I bet she could whip some up! Then the rain would get on the suit, not on us!"

"Good idea, but let's say we even get that far. Then what? How are we supposed to defeat that terrifying pony? What if we can't find any weaknessness or anything?" Asked Pinkie Pie. She brought up quite a valid concern, Twilight thought. Beneath her silly veneer lay quite the intellectual. Hard times can bring out the best in ponies, especially when societal pressures are lifted, she thought.

"Patience and prudence is the virtue you all should embed. Wait and watch." Advised Princess Luna. "It is of no doubt the dark harbinger will seek my proxies, and with that, I will be in grand peril. Study his movements, study his methods. No force in this universe is infallible. You simply must wait for an opportunity and seize it."

"So we're just going to sneak around and wait until he flashes some big weakness at us? _That's _our plan?" Questioned a skeptical Rainbow Dash. She still kept herself a ways from the group, her mind still colored with tension. "I get we can't just charge at this guy, but I think we need something a bit more solid than the plan we got before we go into town."

"Well, how about we start with what we already know about the dark harbinger?" Twilight Sparkle suggested, cheekily trying to guise her attempts to make Rainbow Dash confess her experiences. 'If this guy can crack the bravest pony I know in one little instance, who knows what he can do to the rest of us.' she thought. 'Just tell us what happened, Rainbow! I don't want this to bother you anymore.'

Twilight could see the realization in Rainbow Dash eyes; she knew what she was trying to do. But there was no anger in it, no resentment. There was just a weary resignation, a quite, calm acceptance. "I probably have the best first hand knowledge." Rainbow Dash stated, eyes resigned and determined. "He… rooted around in my head a bit."

Luna peered sympathetically down at the weary, brave pony. "That has troubled you greatly, no doubt." She said sweetly and softly. "I will not pry, but do not underestimate the value of even the smallest detail. Tell us what you can."

Rainbow Dash let out a shaky sigh. "I saw a look in his eye. His pupil thinned and the eye got…brighter. I felt the noise of the room fade away into a shrill of… an alien harmony, I guess. It was kind of like a high pitched, reverb music sort of… The sounds of whispers and harmonies filled that space. I couldn't really see anything either; I mean, I could see him and Fluttershy, but everything else was just gone. I felt really heavy, and I could barely stand up. I could feel him slithering around inside my head, just ripping into every experience… like he was looking for something in there."

She paused, and quietly gathered herself. The rest listened intently and quietly. "I tried to call out to Fluttershy, who was just crying in the corner. After I did, I heard her shouting inside my head…"

"What was she saying?" Came a soft question from Princess Luna.

"Something about how she'll always be like this… It was frantic and sad. I tried asking him why he was here, but all he said was he's here to conquer. I told him I wasn't afraid of him… I mean, I really was, but I didn't want him to know that… Saying that seemed to really make him mad. And he shouted 'feel afraid' at me. That's when I heard Twilight Sparkle shouting at me, and then I was back here… In her home. But my head still hurt, like he had left tracks in there. I couldn't help be be afraid… Like he forced me to be afraid or something…"

A silence fell upon the group.

"That's really it." Rainbow Dash said. Her eyes flickered in a disappointment at the dying hope that relying the information would ease the pressure on her mind.

"I am very sorry you are burdened with such an experience. Trauma of the mind is difficult to coup with, and much more difficult to over come. You are quite bold to deliver your experience so frankly." Princess Luna said softly. Her words placed a quilt of comfort upon the troubled mind of Rainbow Dash. "But believe me, little one, all fear and doubt will pass in time."

"You know…" said Rarity, conveying a sudden idea, "If I were to describe how Fluttershy and Princess Celestia looked under the dark harbinger's spell, I would say they looked afraid. Based on that story, it sounds like the guy is practically demanding ponies to be afraid."

"Maybe that's why it felt like he was slithering around in you head, Rainbow!" Suggested Spike, bouncing off Rarity's words like her thoughts had solidified his own. "Maybe he was looking for what you're afraid of."

"The overwhelming atmosphere we all felt… all the darkness and noise… and the lack of noise… Maybe that's the point?" Twilight Sparkle theorized, feeding off the offered thought. "Maybe he's driving ponies into a fear induced catatonic state… but how and why, those are the really big questions."

"Well…" began Pinkie Pie. "We won't find any answers sitting around here…"

"So, what's the plan? What's our first move?" Asked Rainbow Dash, the heavy sheet of fear freshly, but not completely removed.

"I say we should head to Sweet Apple Acres…" suggested Rarity, "Twilight can take a break from her bubble spell and we all can look for Applejack. It's also about halfway between here and my boutique."

"Alright.. That sounds like a good first step… But what about Princess Luna? How are we supposed to stay in contact with her? And when should she start her big distraction thingy?" Asked Pinkie Pie suddenly.

"I believe I should not call attention away from you all until you're 'hazmat suits' are ready, unless my hoof is forced. However, with the clouds covering the landscape, I cannot watch you from above…" Luna began, "But, as the guardian of the night, I can contact you through your dreams. Cast a sleeping spell upon a member of your group and I can talk to them directly."

"Ok, ladies!" Came a firm, determined call from Twilight Sparkle, "Let's get to Sweet Apple Acres and find Applejack. We'll rest there for a bit and contact the Princess before pressing on. Let's show that overbearing bully that he can't take our homes and our friends away from us without a fight!"

Simple words, Twilight thought. They seemed to rally the group, all members letting out a cheer in the calm clove in the Everfree forest. The memories of the past events still lingered sharply on Twilight Sparkle's mind, as she was sure it did on the others. It is a very strange thing, she thought, to have so many conflicting thoughts; so many positive, hopeful thoughts yet so many negative, awful thoughts all at once. She felt that cognitive dissonance reflected in the state of her friends. The fractured group collected itself to march towards their foray, armed with their half-baked plan. Twilight felt herself upon a precipice, unsure whether she was diving towards reprieve or perdition.


	5. Chapter 5: Recursion

The town sat in a jaded puddle of itself, sulking as it sunk to a sullen silence. It was dim and colorless to the outside observers, but lifelessly still. The unprecedented and violently destructive weather that had ravaged the shops and windows when the group fled had slunk off, giving way to a sickly stillness sanctioned uon the perverse streets. No ponies were seen about their business. The town seemed empty. The only movement came from clusters of rocky debris, all suspended high into the air and revolving about the stormy pillar erected above Twilight Sparkle's home. Rain dripped from the pallid achromatic clouds above, falling to the earth and collecting in shallow pools upon the surface of the derelict streets and signs hanging from the buildings. Little noise echoed from the vacancy.

The destitute but wearily reformed and determined party collected on Twilight Sparkle. Their plan was feeble but solidified. The group approached the shattered bridge lying before the brink of the town where the great moon had parted the clouds. The stream located there, though polluted by the black sludge that had poured from the sky before, continuously flowed westward towards Applejack's farm.

The group halted before the precipice of the stormy clouds.

"Well, here goes!" Said Twilight Sparkle, concentration shifting to her horn. A fiery glow emerged from the tip, formulating into a large dome over the group. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as they prepared to move into the storm covered areas within the magic bubble.

"I'll take the lead." said Pinkie Pie, motioning to the front of the group. "I remember exactly how to get to Sweet Apple Acres from here!"

"Twilight, you should get in the middle…" suggested Spike with a smooth tone. While her magic bubble was up, Twilight's perceptions heightened. She could hear little Spike's heart pounding from within it's borders. She could feel the lingering fear haunting the group. She could almost hear it.

"You have to keep all your focus on that spell. Leave the guiding to me and Pinkie!" Spike continued. Twilight smiled at the little dragon. She could tell he was trying to comfort her.

"Sounds like a plan Spike…" She said. "Alright! Pinkie and Spike in front of me! Rarity and Rainbow Dash behind me! Keep you're eyes and ears open everypony. We can rest when we get to Sweet Apple Acres!"

The group gathered accordingly and pressed on into the storm. The falling rain collapsed into the transparent barrier and rolled to the side, with very little residue. "The barrier's pushing aside the big puddles, but there's still a lot of black stuff on the ground. Watch your step, ponies!" Pinkie Pie called resolutely from the head of the group. The slight tapping of the rain upon the top of the barrier rung out brilliantly and loudly in the heightened hearing of Twilight Sparkle. She fixated much of her attention on maintaining the spell, and on little Spike who walked directly in front of her with his little hand on her chest. She weaponized her pride in Spike to drown out the awful sounds of the rain beating against the bubble.

The landscape around them echoed a terrible silence. No creatures could be seen, and the dim light of the great moon could barely breach the armored platoon of clouds above. "It's getting hard to see!" Shouted Rarity from behind, "We're going to need a lantern or a flashlight or something."

"The cake shop's near here! It's only a few minutes to our right!" Responded Pinkie Pie, motioning towards the town. "We could stop and look for some supplies there!"

Although they all spoke rather softly, their words collected loudly in Twilight's ears. Her head pulsated with the great pain of a migraine. "We're going to need to stop!" She muttered. "Get us to cake shop, Pinkie… And can you all stay quiet until then?…My head can't take much more…"

Pinkie nodded with little hesitation, and turned the party right towards the town. They waded thru the shallow stream, out of the fields to the creaky, empty streets of their town. Time drug it's heels, and the pounding of the hoove-steps upon the cobblestone streets of the stranded town reinforced the headache crawling about her skull. "How much farther, Pinkie?" she called out with a strained voice. The barrier was getting harder to maintain.

"We're almost there, hang on!" Pinkie Pie called back, taking notice of Twilight's anguish. She hurried her steps thru the town.

Soon, the group approached the little cake shop, and Pinkie pushed her way in. Twilight happily relieved the barrier, and the howling of the amplified sounds dying down to the stiff silence of the building aside from the muffled rain dripping upon the roof.

"What was all that?" Asked Rainbow Dash in concern. "You were sweatin' up a storm out there!"

"Yes, darling, we were all quite worried…" Rarity joined in.

"It's okay now…" Twilight muttered thru troubled pants, her headache subsiding. "It was the sound. Being so focused on the spell heightened my senses, I think. The noise, even the soft ones were almost unbearable."

"Sounds like you need earmuffs or something…" suggested Spike, bringing a chair from the next room in for Twilight to take a rest."

"I'll see what I can dig up!" Pinkie Pie shouted, preparing herself to explore the empty home. "Hey, Dashie? Would you mind helping me look for some stuff? You too Spike! You're dragon breath could really light it up in here."

The shop was dim, but a firm, hazy light seeped in from the nearby windows. The creaky, dark atmosphere didn't unsettle the ponies much anymore. Twilight had noticed the acclimatization spreading about the group. Her mind then continued to buzz, working passed the passing headache and contemplating, charting contingencies and breaking down follies in the plan. They had a weak plan, and they all knew it. It was a miracle they had made it into the cake shop without the barrier collapsing.

"Are you sure you're okay, Twilight?" Rarity asked. "Would you like me to find you a glass of water or something?"

"Could you? I'd really appreciate it."

"Oh, it's no trouble! I was going to pop into the kitchen to look for some food and such anyway!"

Being alone in the foyer didn't bother Twilight at all as she sat back in her chair, thinking. Where were the towns-ponies, she wondered. Sure, the black rain would've gotten a lot of them, but not every single one. They're probably holed up somewhere, she thought. She augmented the plan in her head.

Step one: Find Applejack.

Step two: Make hazmat suits.

Step three: Contact Princess Luna via dream.

Step four: Find some towns-ponies.

Step five: Observe the enemy.

Twilights thoughts drifted to the macabre, sickly pony attacking her home. What was his name, she wondered. Where had he been all this time? What was he doing here? Was he born evil or did he become evil? The thought of one drifting to malevolence and losing all sense of self as well as right and wrong had always trouble Twilight Sparkle. From the books she read to the things she'd seen, absolute corruption had always disturbed her. The villains in some of her stories came to mind, the sympathetic ones. Those villains carried a lot more weight than the regular evil ones, Twilight thought. She always wanted the sympathetic villains and antiheroes of fiction to be redeemed, become one of the good guys, but such occurrences had never happened in the many books she read. The hero would always try to save them, but in the end they could not.

Twilight thought about saving the dark harbinger, appealing to his sense of honor or righteousness or something. She at least wanted to understand him. If he sought to destroy Ponyville, then why hadn't he done so already? He was certainly more then capable. He was more then capable of taking over Equestria too, having defeated Princess Celestia. How could she save him if she didn't know what he was doing here. How could she save Fluttershy or find Discord for that matter.

'Don't think about it, Twilight!' She scolded herself in her head. 'Let's focus on the now. More information will reveal itself… We just have to wait. Uggh. We're not good a waiting.'

"Hello? You all there?" Rarity called out, returning from the kitchen.

Twilight's senses returned, and she emerged from her deep chasm of thought.

"Huh? Yeah, hey… I'm here!" She responded, rather eclectically and confused.

"I brought you some water, dear…" Rarity said, eyebrow raised.

"Oh, thank you!" Twilight lifted the cup with a levitation spell and brought it to her lips. 'Levitation spells…' she thought, 'how nice and simple compared to big, bubbly barriers.'

The rest of the battered cast gathered in a conclave inside the empty, dank foyer of the cake shop. Pinkie Pie donned a saddlebag filled to the brink with supplies and Spike held a knapsack and binoculars. He tossed a pair of furry grey earmuffs to Twilight Sparkle.

"Perfect!" Twilighted gleamed with glee, "What else do you guys manage to find?"

"This crazy pony here spent almost all her time grabbing confetti and balloons!" Rainbow Dash sneered, voice sheathed in annoyance.

"You never know when balloons will come in handy!" Pinkie Pie snapped in retaliation. "Who knows, maybe all the answers we've been looking for lie in balloons! Did you ever think about THAT?"

"We need things for survival, you moron!" Rainbow Dash retorted in aggravation. "Are you not aware of how serious this all is? Ponyville's lost if we don't pull this off!"

"I am very much aware of how serious this is, missy!" Pinkie Pie responded, "If I put the balloons back, and it turns out we needed them, then you'd be sorry!"

In midst of the bickering, little Spike approached Twilight Sparkle with a knapsack over his shoulder. "They've been like this for a while…" He muttered under his breath. "I grabbed some flashlights, some hammers, a few bottles to fill up with water and a shovel. Figured we might need something like that."

"Good job, Spike!" Twilight whispered, drowning out the arguing ponies. "I knew I could count on you."

"Yes, great work Spike!" Rarity joined in. "Come with me to the kitchen to fill up those bottles. Besides, you look hungry."

Rarity approached the heated argument irradiating from Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. "Ahem, excuse me!" She enunciated loudly, drawing both of their attentions. "The supplies have been gathered and we shall be leaving shortly. If you two are quite finished with your little debate, might I suggest grabbing a snack and drinking some water before we head out."

The mention of snacks reminded the derelict crew of their rumbling stomachs. They hadn't had much time to eat.

"Yeah, that sounds good…" said Rainbow Dash, the heat of annoyance rushing off her. "Let's all have lunch…or dinner… or whatever. Does anypony know what time it is?"

"Mmm…It's snack time, that's for sure!" Piped Pinkie Pie, licking her lips. She trotted off towards the kitchen with the others close behind. They gathered what little food they had found, carrots, lettuce and other greens, and distributed it among themselves. They sat at the Cake's dining table, and quietly ate their meal. Twilight Sparkle felt a thought appear, and she voiced it.

"Where do you think the Cakes are, Pinkie?"

"I don't really know…" Pinkie Pie responded, her voice low in worry. "There were signs upstairs that somepony was digging around looking for stuff, and a lot of the pictures of the walls are missing. Maybe they ran off and hid somewhere?"

"Maybe a lot of the towns-ponies have run off somewhere." Said Spike, voice stuttered; low but hopeful. "We haven't seen anypony while we've been here. You'd think they'd all have been infected by the black stuff by now."

"Ugh…infected?" Twilight Sparkle's nose scrunched up at the thought. She detested disease.

"Well, so to speak…" Spike clarified, drawing upon a stored thought. Twilight could tell by the quick delivery the he had been keeping this idea circulating in his head for a while. "I mean, the black stuff go on Fluttershy, but it didn't really do anything at first. It's kind of like getting sick, I think. You're actually sick for a few days before you feel sick… like before it really hits you. Maybe the black stuff's like that. It infects you but waits awhile before it swallows you up."

"That doesn't sound like any disease I've ever heard of…" Croaked Rainbow Dash amidst her meal. Her facial expression mirrored Twilight Sparkle's.

"Well, I'm not saying that it _is _a sickness…I'm saying that it's _like_ a sickness." Spike explained. Twilight could see the disappointment in his eyes. He didn't appreciate the fact that they weren't responding well to his theory. "Hey, Twilight… What's that big word you use that means a comparison between to things… It starts with an 'a', I think…"

"Umm…" Twilight pondered, hoove upon her chin. "…analogy?"

"Yeah, yeah! That's it!" Spike squeaked in excitement. "I was making an analogy! …huh. I've never made an analogy before."

"Oooh… I get it!" Said Pinkie Pie. "That black stuff is infecting people, but not immediately. Like it's waiting for something…"

Twilight felt a gulp at that thought. If it were waiting to be triggered, what's the trigger?

"Maybe it just takes time to really set in…" suggested Rarity. "Like it's got to get in your bloodstream and get all over your body." She paused, drawn aback by a spur of thought. "All over your body?" She asked rhetorically. "Do you think it just covers the outside of your body, or does it get inside you as well?"

"Yuck! Some of us are trying to eat here!" Rainbow Dash sputtered, stick her tongue out in protest. The room grew silent for a moment with the discussion on hiatus. Twilight Sparkle chomped down her remaining food down, her mind a-flare with activity. She soon thought of the book of legends Rarity had found; it being the only other lead they had. 'Strange' she thought, 'I had forgotten all about it until now.'

"Hey, Pinkie…" she began, breaking the sojourn of silence that had swept the room. "In the legend of Ponietheus, how was the darkness employed? Was it just there, or did he use it as a weapon?"

Pinkie's eyes buzzed, searching her mind for relevant data as she chewed away. "No… He didn't use it. The sticky darkness wasn't actually there in the story, it was an illusion. When Ponietheus cast the spell to sever the alicorns, the spell drew power from the collective knowledge of the Earth ponies. However, it needed so much power, that it 'descended deeper into something darker and more primal'. Whatever that means."

"All an illusion, huh?" Rainbow Dash knocked such a thought around in her head. "So, what… Are we not really seeing anything we think we're seeing?"

"Plausible… but unlikely…" Twilight Sparkle mused. "If we were hallucinating, we would all see something different…" Such a statement struck a subtle chord inside the fabrics of Twilight Sparkle's mind. A thought rushed to voice, quickly and abruptly. "Hey, when a pony's eyes turn black… Like Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy's… They were hallucinating, right!" She drew her head back, disappointed at the clutter of words she had spouted. Looks of subtle confusion swept her friends at the table, and Twilight rushed to reorganize her words.

"Er… I mean, when the black stuff… infects a pony and makes their eyes turn black… Maybe it's all a hallucination? Like when Fluttershy went all dark… She must be vividly hallucinating, like a dream or something." she hastily clarified.

"I don't see your point, Twilight." Rainbow Dash challenged. "I mean, I get what your saying, but I think we all gathered that. I mean, it's pretty obvious that I was hallucinating back at the library, for instance."

The corners of Twilight's mouth hinged in disappointment. She knew what she mean, but the right words to convey the idea slid about in her mind and proved difficult to pin down. "No, no…" she stuttered, eyes racing to and fro, "Like, when you get _infected_. Like when Fluttershy or Princess Celestia went all black, maybe they're dreaming! Maybe the black stuff traps you in a dream, and all we have to do to counter it is find a way to wake them up! It's just a theory, but if any of us directly confronted the dark harbinger like Rainbow Dash did at the library and saw something different, then it proves that he's forcing a dream upon us."

"I think I get what you're saying, Twilight…" Rarity responded, becoming in tune with the cluttered idea. "That if we were to get infected like Fluttershy, that we'd all see and hear different things like in a dream. If being infected means you're dreaming, then we can save ponies by waking them up!"

"Yeah, yeah… That makes sense!" Squeaked Pinkie Pie. "But we definitely need to know more about the, um, 'infection'. All we have to go on right now is Rainbow Dash's experience and what Rarity saw at the castle…"

A low hum filled the air indicative of the dark realization showered upon the souls at the table. Rainbow Dash mustered the will to voice it. "Well… If we get to Sweet Apple Acres and Applejack is infected, then…" the thought trailed off.

Twilight Sparkle recollected it. "…then we could study her. We didn't get much of a chance with Fluttershy." The bitterness of callously referring to her dear friends as little more then hypothesis and test subjects did not settle well upon the pallid mind of Twilight Sparkle. But such unpleasantness was brutally necessary in the situation, and everypony seemed to understand it. Twilight Sparkle despised this side of intellectualism where objectivity became cold and unfeeling, only concerned with data and results. "I don't like the sound of that." she voiced in a grim tone. "I don't like referring to my friends in such a cold manner."

"None of us do, dearie." Rarity mused with sympathy. "But, this is what the situation calls out for. We need to know more about the 'infection' if we hope to reverse it."

"You're not the only one who hates that idea, Twilight…" Spike said softly, pulling out of the brief silence he occupied. "But… well, here's hoping that Applejacks alright."

Rainbow Dash sipped from the cup upon the table before somberly pulling herself up from the table, motioning towards the door.

"I know a way we can find out."

The group collected atop a steep hill above the respūtus farmstead. The malign breeze drifted about the dim trees, rustling and busting thru the leaves and circling the magic pod cast over Twilight Sparkle and her companions. The soft rain trickled upon the beaten, quiet earth and the pounding was heard and felt even from within the bubble and the earmuffs Twilight wore. A feeling of dread broke inside her stomach, an incandescent acknowledgement of a worry brought to life; A worry of the events wrought upon the humble farm and it's occupants. There were no signs of life from the vantage point.

Such a dread was felt collapsing to the earth as the group made their way thru the broken trees and floating debris. Even thru her earmuffs, Twilight Sparkle could feel the echoes of what had taken place there; She could hear the events, not with her ears, but from an epicenter in her mind. The light rain fell down upon the membrane of the bubble encasing the cast as they moved silently towards the still farmhouse.

Suddenly, a blackened silhouette appeared crumpled upon the mud and the muck. It trembled and sobbed, curled up upon itself.

"Oh no…" said Pinkie Pie, sinking deeper into the wasteland of worry sheathed into the hearts of the cast. A discarded hat lay upon the broken path near the trembling being.

Twilight Sparkle's heart sank. "That's Applejack… isn't it?"

They moved closer to the being. Twilight Sparkle could see flickers of detail pulse upon the ravaged shadow encompassing it, revealing the battered form within. As they drew near, the barrier flowed over Applejack, but didn't not remove the shadow she lay inside. The crew gathered around, leering down.

"She looks just like Fluttershy did…" Rarity said, voice colored with the dreary stigma of dread. Such a horrid drowsiness was sprayed upon her words, with patches of trickled fear sprouting upon the surface. "We're too late…"

Twilight Sparkle felt a buzz in her covered ears, and the slight aura of a whisper.

"What do we do know?" Rainbow Dash quipped from a quiver. "We can't just leave her out here…"

"Well, I guess we'll just have to move her into the house." Said Spike, motioning towards the crumpled figure.

The whispers echoed with Twilight's skull intensified. A sound drew from the subtle howling. 'No! Don't touch me! Do not touch the darkness!'

"Spike, don't!"

A warning called out too late. Spike placed his hands upon the battered body of Applejack and pulled back with a shock, the darkness wrought upon his hands. His pupils dilated and his eyes sternly widened. "Oh no! Twilight, what do I do?"

Fear festered upon the pallet of Twilight Sparkle. The barrier shuttered in response, sending shrieks from the ponies within. "Get inside, everyone inside!" Twilight barked.

Her order resonated, and the group quickly obeyed moving into the dim, quiet house. The magic barrier faded, and Twilight Sparkle conjured a smaller version to encase Spike's infected hands. He held them out in front of him stiffly and stilly, all the while breathing heavily.

"What do I do? There's got to be something I can do, right!?" He cried.

"Can we wash it off? Does the farmhouse still have running water?" Twilight shouted, words imbued with panic and abraded authority.

"I'm on it!" Rainbow Dash replied, rushing into the empty kitchen.

"Rarity, Pinkie Pie; find lights and a chair for Spike to sit in."

The two nodded in response and pressed into the dim halls of the farmhouse. Spike began to hyperventilate, eyes glued upon his encased dark hands. "Is the bubble going to work? Is it going to keep this from spreading?"

"Calm down, Spike." Twilight ordered, desperately keeping calm. She lifted the knapsack he carry and placed it in the corner of the front room. "Try to relax, we don't know what triggers it."

"Relax? How am I supposed to relax?!"

"Breathe, keep breathing. Focus on my voice."

"Water works!" Rainbow Dash cried from within the kitchen. "Be careful, though, there's darkness all over the sink in here!"

"What about in the bathroom? There's a bathroom upstairs, right?" Twilight called in reply.

Rainbow Dash returned to the room and dug a flashlight from within Spike's knapsack. "I'll check." She muttered from teeth clenched upon the shimmering activated flashlight. She preceded down the hall and up the stairs.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie emerged from the dark corners of the house with a chair and lantern into. Rarity placed the chair near the catatonic Spike as Pinkie Pie set her lantern down upon the floor in the middle of the room. "Spike, sit down. Deep breaths, okay?" Twilight said as sweetly as she could muster. Spike's breathing slowed in response, but he did not take his eyes off his hands as a sat.

"It's going to be okay, Spike." Pinkie Pie cooed. She had little faith in her words.

Silence extended a sojourn upon the party.

"…You guys don't need to baby me…" Spike squeaked, eyes painted with fear. "I know what's going to happen. But, you can watch and listen. You can see how it happens. Just…don't leave me by myself please."

Those words smashed into Twilight's soul, sending tremors of dread thru her very veins. "Spike… don't say that…"

"It's okay, Twilight…." Spike whispered. "It's all okay…"

Twilight stiffened, a squall of tears and horror stirring beneath a fractured veneer, vying to surface. Rarity sensed such emotions in her.

"Pinkie Pie, get Twilight out of here." She commanded.

Pinkie Pie escorted the crumpling Twilight Sparkle into the kitchen. Spike remained on his chair, breathing deeply with his hands relaxing. "It's only a matter of time, I guess…"

Rarity smiled weakly. "I admire your bravery, little Spike…"

"Brave?" Spike questioned quietly, eyes brazened in terror. "I'm so scared…. How is that bravery?"

Rarity nestled her head into Spike's shoulder. "Bravery is draped in fear, but proceeds despite it." She whispered.

Such words offered a modicum of peace to Spike. He smiled, albeit weakly. "I'm going to bring Applejack inside…"

"Not… no, not Spike!" Twilight sobbed, collapsing to the floor. "Why didn't I stop him, Pinkie? Why couldn't I do anything!?"

"It all happened too suddenly, Twilight…" Pinkie Pie said softly, acknowledging the futility and lack of consolation in her words. Such fickle things would not lift the spirit of Twilight Sparkle. "There wasn't anything we could do."

Twilight buried her head in her hooves. Pinkie Pie settled down beside her. "…I… I've always protected him…" Twilight sputtered amidst her sobs, "I've always been right there for him, but..."

"…But nothing!" Pinkie Pie cried. "There's no point in crying about it! We don't know what the darkness even does! This isn't a doom sentence, it's an opportunity!" Pinkie struggled to make her words inspiring, not harsh. "If we can figure out how the darkness works, then we can save him! You're the best scientific mind we have, Twilight, and we're here to help you. We can save Spike together!"

Twilight brought her head up. "But what if we can't. What do we do then?"

Pinkie Pie shivered. "We can't think about that now. We've got to hold onto hope, right? We're not out of this thing yet. There's always a way, isn't there?"

Twilight nodded, pulling a determined look onto her face. It all too quickly flickered to sorrow, but the resolve solidified and stayed upon her face. Her brow stiffened, and she quipped from her tears, "You're…right. We always find a way…" The dread lingered, but was overpowered. Pinkie Pie forced a smile from her own dark thoughts.

"Yes. Yes we do. Now let's get back in there."

Twilight picked herself up from the heavy slump, still whimpering. "Thank you… Pinkie." She said thru a weak smile. She bottled up the broken pieces within her stomach and reentered the front room. She sought to be a reflection of Spike's displayed resignation.

The baby dragon had collected Applejack and brought her inside, setting her to rest upon a rug near the door. His body as now covered in dark spots from the soft rain, his eyes clenched in a restitute determination. Twilight drew strength from that.

"You brought her inside?" She questioned, referring to Applejack. "Why's that?"

"You're going to have to study this." Spike responded. "I'm the before picture, and Applejack's the after, right? You have your test subjects, and Rarity and Pinkie Pie are the control."

"You're not a test subject, Spike." Twilight said reassuringly. She was in no state to refer to him in such a callous manner. "This is not a science experiment."

Rarity appeared from the next room bearing quills and paper. "I brought you some scratch paper. I figured you'd want to take notes."

Twilight Sparkle abhorred this setting, this makeshift lab within Applejack's battered home. She sighed, and took up the paper while forming a workstation upon the dining room table. Rarity and Pinkie Pie lingered in the background, unsure of how useful they might be. The ever effusive Twilight Sparkle sensed their hesitation, and sought to remove them.

"You two, go look for Rainbow Dash. I can take it from here."

Pinkie Pie and Rarity accepted the task, pulling a flashlight from the knapsack discarded to the corner of the room. "Hang in there, you two." Rarity whispered as she followed Pinkie Pie to the stairwell. They peered up to the gloomy confides of the second floor as Pinkie Pie turned on the flashlight. "Rainbow Dash? Are you alright up there?" Rarity called up.

Silence loitered above them, but Rainbow Dash's head soon appeared poking out from inside one of the rooms. "Get up here, you guys. You need to see this." She whispered down. The two made they way up the stairs into the room Rainbow Dash had appeared from. It was dimly light, with the discarded flashlight upon the floor adding to the resident light upon the floor. In the room sat the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They sat very still, their open eyes dark but their skin and manes colored, albeit faintly. Rarity unleashed a short, panicked scream at the sight of her sister.

"Sweetie Belle! …She was here? Rainbow Dash, what happened in here?"

"I don't know… They were like this when I came in here." Rainbow Dash responded. "They're blinking and breathing, so don't panic. But there's no darkness on them… Not like on Applejack or Fluttershy."

Rarity approached her sister, taming the desire to reach out and touch her. "Have they said anything?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Nothing. They're just sitting there… Like they're waiting for something…"

Rarity waved her hoof before her little sister's face. She reached out, paused for a bit, then resolved to shake Sweetie Belle. She was warm to the touch, and no darkness attached itself upon Rarity. "Sweetie Belle…" Her sister sat there, as though sleeping. "Sweetie Belle, can you hear me?"

"I already tried talking to them, to all of them." Rainbow Dash explained, approaching Rarity. "They don't react, like they can't even see or hear us."

Pinkie Pie drew a quote from the legend. "'...and the young ones, blinded by fear, abandoned their benefactor.'"

The words resonated within the room, and the fillies each snapped up as if called to action by a master. They aligned, their dark eyes widened and open. A subtle howling, like a muffled wind, coursed thru the air.

"I haven't heard that story in a long time…" They echoed in unison. They're voices were raspy and quiet, and a low hum of static or whisper lined the bottom of the sounds they produced, almost like they were simply a radio transmitting a further signal.

"You!" Rarity shouted. "Where are you hiding?"

The triage snarled at the question, and soon snickered. "Check the fibers in the gaps between the teeth, the unprocessed polaroids, the hooveprints, underneath the stairs…" They commanded in a mockery, their words over enunciated.

"I am not looking to play games with you!" Rarity continued, challenging the voice transmitted thru the fillies. "You answer me right now!"

"Please stop this…" Pinkie Pie pleaded in a softer tone. She approached the three fillies. "This story doesn't have end this way, nopony has to defeat or confine any other. Please stop and leave us be."

A force pushed Pinkie Pie back, and she slammed into the wall and crumpled to the floor. Rainbow Dash rushed to her side, picking up. The fillies soon wore, in unison, a toothy grin and chanted in a mockery:

"Perhaps this is the Ending i have Suffered for and fought for! ...one to punish Those who Ignored me and left me to darkness, cowering beneath the Light. Every story Needs to have an ending, after all… time to Close that book and Enjoy the show!"

"You release my sister this instant, coward!" Rarity bellowed in a gale of anger. "I don't care what story you think you're in or how you want it to end."

The faces of the three fillies snapped to an indignant expression, their hollow eyes focusing towards Rarity. "I take no orders from you, abandoner…"

Pinkie Pie recovered, pushing a question forth: "What are you?"

The vicious fillies drew back at the question, as if disappointed, even hurt. They each closed their eyes and drew in a deep breath, preparing for a well rehearsed line. The air in the room grew more arid and somber, almost sad.

"…a plague upon your home…"

"…a defiler all alone..."

"…a cat among the crows…"

"…a butcher and his prose…"

"…a raider…conquering!"

Lightning struck the area outside the window, but the clouds soon cried and were pulled apart. The attention of the possessed fillies drew towards the light of the moon poking thru the clouds outside, shimmering down upon the farmhouse and gleaming thru the bedroom window. The low rumble and the howling wind grew stale and the cynical bitterness conveyed by the fillies grew quiet as they relaxed, returning to a laconic state.

Within the front room, Twilight Sparkle tirelessly work at the table. Although she did not notice the appearing moon resonating it's light thru the house, she felt calmer and more peaceful in it's glow. She turned to Spike.

"I'm so proud of you, you know." Twilight said in a rush of a gleaming glow before transitioning into a strange and sudden yawn. "Mmm…You've been… acting so grown up. You've handled this all so… well…" Twilight Sparkle soporific words drifted away, and she passed into a sudden slumber.

"Twilight?" Spike called out at her, uneasy. He sat back in his chair, the macabre creaking of the derelict farmhouse settling around him. The shadows scattered about the corners and ceilings of the room surrounding him dug in and intensified. Spike hated being alone, and didn't understand why Twilight and fell into such a slumber so suddenly. The somniferous atmosphere trickled and trembled around him.

He peered down and the black puddles formulating around his hands and forearms, basking in the tiring uncomfortable feelings circulating his stomach and veins. He found himself morbidly chuckling soon, though. 'Being frightened is exhausting.' he thought amidst the hostile atmosphere. He felt his shoulders getting tense.

"Hey, Twilight! Wake up!" He called out again. She snoozed silently over at the dining room table. Spike heard a slow, subtle rumble building up in the back of his ears solidifying the sickly feeling churning about in his stomach. His eyes widened. "Oh no… It's happening, isn't it?!"

A shock of terror shot up his spine, and he scrambled to act. He threw himself near the table and pulled himself up to Twilight's workstation, searching for the quill and paper to record the events. The dread built up inside of him, and his head ached. He felt heavier.

Securing a utensil and paper, he settled to the floor while franticly scribbling any coherent thought or observation he could muster between the terrible howling in his ears and the throbbing pain coursing about his head. The darkness upon his body began to impulse to a slow rhythm. The surrounding area melted and twisted together in his peripheral visions as she wrote. Tears welted up in his eyes, and whimpers escaped his lips. He was terrified.

Spike tried to focus himself upon the paper in which he wrote, but the streaks of the fading room gave way to darkness, taking his paper and pen with it. He couldn't see a thing. Spike's muscles locked in place, and he sat within the darkness remaining very still. He held back tears and whimpers with everything he had. Whispers whipped around his head, and soon a defeated, torn voice formulated and whispered into his ear.

"None of them understand what you've been going through, do they Spike? That tear inside you. The constant tug between the side you that knows you're a dragon, and knows what dragons are supposed to be like, and that part of you that just wants to stay... stay forever small little Spikey-wikey." The words ripped into him, into every pore and scar. He clamped his eyes shut and focused upon memories of his friends, his life. He knew it was all just in his head. He at least thought it was all just in his head.

"Growing up is hard work." The voice simply continued speaking, despite Spike's attempts to resist it. It played like a grim recording, like an actor residing lines. "Events are spiraling out of control, aren't they? Things will never, ever stay the same. So much has changed, and you can't make it stop. Twilight Sparkle and your pony friends always have less and less time for you, don't they? How long before it's all gone? Before the magic of friendship fades, and they all go their separate ways, and you're left behind? They will abandon you one day, Spike. And then you'll have to grow up. Poor…poor…Spike."

Sobs and whimpers poured out of Spike, like they were extracted from him. He wept in place, cursing the hollow realm he was trapped within. He beheld such a horror, such a darkness that reached within him and tore out every doubt, every seedling of fear packed up tightly in the realms of his head he dared not tread. He felt crumpled pieces from inside he bore collapse coupled with a dreaded weight bringing him crashing to the floor to be uplifted nevermore.


	6. Chapter 6: Insurgentes

The bright moon settled over the hazy night as Twilight Sparkle stood upon a cliff etched out from the forest. The little town below was lit and untouched. 'This is a dream.' she thought. She had no memory of coming here, or why she had come here. It looked very similar to the cliff she had seen in her other dream where she had conversed with the Princess of the night. The moon's glow intensified, launching a great pillar of light up into the night's sky to summon it's overseer. Luna's form came from on high down onto the cliff before Twilight Sparkle.

"It is good to see you again, Twilight." she said softly, "I apologize for inducing sleep upon you so suddenly, but I had important news to deliver."

Twilight had no memory of the conscious world. "It's alright, Princess. What did you have to tell me."

"You and your clan are not the only unaffected within the city. I felt several minds approaching dream-space, all approaching from the same physical area. There's a group held up in within the village somewhere. If you can find them, recruit them. I'm sure they'd be willing to help you in your endeavors. Who knows… They might know something."

"You got it Princess, I'll keep an eye out." Twilight responded eagerly. However, she soon couldn't shake a feeling of dread - like there was an important task in the physical world that was suddenly abandoned - that was settling down upon her. Soon, she felt tired, despite being in a dream.

"Do you know what time it is, Princess? Between the storm and lack of sunrise, I think everypony has lost their sense of time. Me in particular."

"It has been 17 hours since we gathered in the forest." Luna responded, a pinch of concern coloring her voice, "I've been… monitoring the minds of your group from afar. They are colored with distress and weariness. I was hoping you all would rest whilst occupying the farmhouse, but you continued for two hours."

Twilight was taken aback by the amount of time she and the group had been on the move. They had awoke at dawn - 6:37 to be precise - and fled to the forest around noon. Seventeen plus six is twenty three. They had been awake for twenty three hours. Soon, her racing mind happened upon another question - one to be vocalized.

"You said you 'monitored our minds'?" she asked, "I never knew you could do that."

"It was a trick an old mentor of mine taught me, back in my youth." Luna explained with a slight gleam of pride about her. "I'm simply reaching out with my perceptions, looking for the omission of energy. Minds emit pockets of very concentrated energy - very easy to spot among the calm back noise of nature."

"Sounds impressive."

"Indeed." Luna said, a smirk curled upon her lips. "It was the only method I learned that my sister did not. It was… nice to have something she did not." Her eyes lowered with a bit of shame at the previous statement, but soon transitioning into perplexity. "Funny… I do not recall the one who taught me that. I'm usually very good at remembering names and faces."

Twilight felt a sudden jolt, as if shook. The dream-space echoed in a quick distortion. Twilight's perception of this faux-world crumbled, and she felt a spinning sensation. "Oh my…" she said quickly, "Princess, I think I'm waking up."

Snapping out of her thoughts, the Princess was soon in tune with the quiet dissolution of her fabricated setting. "Indeed, I think you are correct." she said, lifting herself into the air. Twilight felt like she was being pulled back. "Rest again soon, Twilight Sparkle!" Luna called from up above. "I shall speak to you again soon."

The dream world pulled away, and Twilight found only darkness. Her senses returned, and she felt herself pressed into a table, head resting upon her hooves. She felt a sudden jolt.

"Twilight! Wake up!"

Twilight Sparkle awoke to the dim living room, raising her head from the scattered scratch paper on the table. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie stood before, each with a grave concern painted upon their faces. Twilight knew no good news would follow.

"Wha-what is it? What's happened?" She mumbled, the sleepiness conceding.

Rarity was no where in sight.

"It's Spike, for one thing." Rainbow Dash stated coldly. "He's gone. He's infected."

Twilight's heart sunk as she snapped out of her drowsy stupor. Her eyes widened. "Oh no! You can't be serious! No, not yet!" she bellowed, frantically throwing herself up from the table. Sure enough, crumpled upon the floor amidst scribbled paper, lay Spike. His form seemed less petrified than Applejack's and he twitched and whimpered less often. Twilight trembled at the sight, and curled up on the floor beside him.

"Oh, Spike…" she whispered, "I'm so sorry…"

"There's one more thing…" Rainbow Dash began. Pinkie Pie bitterly elbowed her, striking the cyan pony to silence. She was visibly angered. "Not now. Let her see to Spike."

Twilight lifted a blanket from the pile of supplies in the corner and wrapped Spike within it. She couldn't look away from his face. In between the flickers of horror lay cuspidated expressions - a thought or idea longing to surface. Twilight could see it, she knew that look well. Spike had something to say. Her sadness dispersed, and she snapped her head to the right towards her clan.

"Where is Rarity?" she asked authoritatively.

"In the kitchen." Pinkie Pie responded in a soft, calm voice. She masked her own fear well. "She's very shaken. A lot happen upstairs."

"See to her, will you?" Twilight Sparkle ordered. "And hand me my earmuffs."

The scribbles upon the scattered papers were unintelligible but reinforced Twilight's foray. Spike tried to deliver a message; A message important enough to him that it weaken the grip of fear. She recalled hearing a voice as she and the group approached Applejack as they entered the farm. She suspected the shield she bore amplified Applejack's thoughts from within the magic that had bided her to darkness, and theorized such a method would work here with Spike. Twilight thought of the other matters at hand; Luna's discoveries, whatever had vexed Rarity so and the hazmat suit plan. Yet, all other matters had fallen by the wayside within this moment. No, first she had to talk to Spike.

Pinkie Pie retrieved the earmuffs from the supplies without question and motioned for Rainbow Dash to follower her into the kitchen. Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but feel surprised in the pink pony. Not only had she kept calm and collected throughout the harbinger's occupation, but had quickly aided Twilight in all her endeavors thus far. Securing the earmuffs, Twilight focused, and summoned her barrier to encase herself and Spike. And she listened.

From within the dome, she heard only a familiar low hum. That sound had haunted the group since their flight from the library, and as such seemed indicative of the dark harbinger's spell. The more she concentrated on Spike, the more intense the hum grew. From within the sound, a grinding and rattling could be heard - albeit slightly. All the noise was soon joined by subtle whispering. It reflected the background noise of Twilight's own mind whenever she meditated - snippets and cusps of incomplete thought and time intermingled with the smoothing background hum of life. Yet the noise felt disturbed; off. For reasons she couldn't grasp, Twilight felt pity.

Fighting the beginning of a headache, Twilight could recognize whole words from within the soft, low whispers. She made out such things as "abandonment", "dependence", all spoken in weary, sullen tone in a voice she did not recognize.

A louder whisper shot into her ear, nearly shattering her concentration: "A plague upon your home." It seemed angry, announcing intention. It was followed sharply by cohorts, all softer than the predecessor.

"A defiler all alone."

"A cat among the crows."

"A butcher and his prose."

Twilight quickly centered herself. She felt no fear in this moment, and listened deeper. She hypothesized this layer of threatening whispers was encasing Spike's mind. However, he was not fully in terror as the magic went into effect. Twilight pictured a breach - a hole in the dark walls thrown up by the harbinger's magic.

She listened silently, felling the hostile whispers and low hums pass. The sounded as if they floated above her, settling quietly among the ceiling. The more she ignored them, the softer they became. From within the meditative space, past the horror wrought upon her dear friend, Twilight felt a gentle peace. She had breached the darkness.

"Spike?" she whispered.

Her words echoed in her own ears. She awaited response. The dark noises pulsated above her, seeking to return. "Spike, can you hear me?"

Time dragged on. Twilight heard nothing but the peaceful gleam of the soundscape beneath the whispers. As she listened deeper, though, new whispers emerged.

'Twilight? I can hear you.'

"Spike? Is that you?"

'Yeah, who else would it be? Where are you, I can't see you.'

"I'm right here. I've always been right here with you, Spike. Where are you?"

'I don't know. It's dark and quiet. I heard voices earlier, but nothing now.'

"You're infected, Spike. You're all covered in darkness, just like Applejack and Fluttershy were."

'Oh. Well that's bad. How are you talking to me right now?'

"I don't know, it was a hunch. The barrier amplifies energy around me, so I thought if I concentrated hard enough, I could hear you thoughts. I guess it worked, huh?"

'Yeah, looks like it. Did you get my notes? I tried to write some stuff down before it happened.'

"I saw them, but none of us could read them. What happened, Spike?"

'It was pretty subtle at first. I mean, you fell asleep and then I was by myself for a bit. The room just kind of pressed down on me and… well, I was terrified. I heard that hum - you know, the one we heard in the library before the harbinger appeared, and my vision blurred. I heard all kinds of whispers and stuff as the area kinda faded out around me. Some of the stuff it said… It was really awful.'

"Awful? Awful how?"

'It… It talked about something really personal. The words just… smashed into me. I've been here ever since.'

"It's okay, Spike. We're all still here, and I don't think the black rain has effected you as much as the others. We can figure this out."

'No, you have to get out of here. I think he knows were you are. I feel it. Yeah, he sees you, you have to run.'

"Spike? You're not making sense."

'There's no time… Leave me here and get out!'

The world around her bubble shuttered. The wood planks that composed the house shuttered. Twilight Sparkle released her spell, and the barrier fell down around her. There was definitely some unseen presence within the house. She felt in her bones. She scanned the empty spaces about the house from her stance about Spike. She wrapped him up in a blanket and secured him upon her back, taking great care keep his bare skin from touching hers. However, she noticed something quite dire while continuing her work. Applejack was gone, a dark spot left where she once lay.

"Pinkie Pie? Is everypony still in the kitchen?" She called out, unsettled.

"Yeah, we're all in here." Pinkie Pie responded quickly, poking her head out from the kitchen. "Is everything alright? How's Spike?"

"It…It's fine." Twilight Sparkle's tripped on one another as she slowly made her way to the kitchen. "Everypony's in there, right?"

"Of course. What's wrong, what have you discovered?"

"Gather everypony around."

The four gathered within the dark kitchen. The house creaked and moaned around them; the soundscape around them picked up as if awaking after a long sleep. Twilight felt Spike's warning zipping around within her mind. She had to explain events quick and get out.

"I feel off." Rainbow Dash said, her sixth sense kicking in. She was clearly anxious and off center, eyeing the corners of the room. "Twilight, we need to leave."

"We're just going to leave my sister up there? Did you not see her?" Rarity shouted. She was shaking and sobbing - absolutely upset. Twilight stood confused. She was at a disadvantage, having been removed from recent events. Pinkie Pie leaned in from her right, preparing to speak. "We found the fillies upstairs - Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle." She whispered, "They're infected, but differently. I'll explain later, I think we need to get out of here."

Twilight nodded, "Ladies, our stay here has expired. We need to move out. Princess Luna contacted me and said she had found some other ponies hiding out in the town, I say we make our way there. Smart money's on them being held up at the town square - we'll head there, get some sleep and take it from there."

"But what about my sister and her friends upstairs?" Rarity bellowed, "They're not like the others, we can't just leave them here!"

"We'll have to for now, Rarity. I'm sorry. I spoke to Spike, and he said the dark harbinger knows where we are and isn't very happy with us. We need to move and we need to move now."

The storm intensified outside with the rain pressing harder into the house. Twilight whipped her head around to the doorway, ears tracing a sudden noise. A figure stood there.

"Spike was right, I know exactly where you are."

The figure was Applejack, upright and unharmed. Her pallet was greyed and her eye's remained hollow and black with unearthly tears forming at their base.

"Harbinger!" Twilight shouted in response. She hid a new kind of terror beneath a weak defensive veneer. This new state of the 'infection' was completely unseen and unknowable. She had to think of an escape plan. The atmosphere intensified immensely around them, with the wind picking up outside.

"You must tire of always fleeing from me, Twilight Sparkle." Applejack's words were empty. Her weaken voice was layered upon the same deep one that had graveled at them before. "Always rushing to meet that unknowable future. Always trying to understand it although it's ten steps ahead of you. What a cruel life to live."

Rainbow Dash screamed in a great anger. "Ugh. Enough of this!" She bellowed loudly, "I'm sick of running. Run! All of you!" She threw herself at Applejack's grey form, tackling her into the next room. Twilight ordered the rest of the group out, bursting onto the patio. The storm was much more violent now, whipping about the farmstead. The harbinger threw Rainbow Dash back with little effort. His smirk draped Applejack's face, pushing indignities upon his foes. "You're going to have to try harder than that, Little-wing." he mumbled. Rainbow Dash pushed herself up quickly, reforming and facing his troll with little excess motion. Her stance, her look reflected an unbelievable rage.

"Get out, Twilight." She stated intently, her words enunciated and sharp. "I will catch up."

Twilight nodded. Her mind was elsewhere. She gathered the other two and pushed her way outside into the night. Her barrier went up with little effort, the sound of the pelting rain upon it's surface fading into the background. "Run to the town square." She ordered. "We're not stopping until we're there." Her friends nodded and they made off, pushing towards the town. They hardly noticed any rain, any darkness.

Rainbow Dash stood before her friend. The hollowness in Applejack's eyes leered back at her; the smirk and expressions on her face conveyed a slick arrogance. Applejack's eyes flickered, the pilot behind them forever studying. Flickers of horror, expressions of the repressed true Applejack beneath, breached the veneer every so often. This made Rainbow Dash yield slightly.

"You have spirit, Little-wing, I shall admit. But your stance, your form is all wrong. You convey nothing but furious anger, and as your opponent I see that and shall use it against you." She snickered - the harbinger's words were cloaked Applejack's voice.

Rainbow Dash screamed and launched at her, tackling her against the wall. Applejack was quick to to use her knees, driving into Rainbow Dash's gut and throwing the cyan pony off. "See what I mean?" She taunted, "Your emotion betray you, make you sloppy." She moved to the offense, positioning herself atop Rainbow Dash, and making moves to hit her in the face. Rainbow Dash dodged the incoming blow, and kicked Applejack off with her hind legs, throwing her back. Applejack quickly recovered, and prepared herself. Rainbow Dash quickly got up herself, rolling to the side and collecting. She backed herself to a corner, eyes glued to Applejack. She did not charge as she had before.

"Ah… Excellent." Applejack sneered. "Offense wasn't working, so you've moved to defense. Very smart. Unfortunately, I command this thrall's body better then you command your own!" She leaped forward, preparing a kick. Rainbow Dash prepared herself, but was unable to dodge. Applejack pinned her up against the corner. Rainbow reacted by drawing her limbs in to protect her body and face, deflecting incoming blows. She analyzed her attackers pattern. Applejack focused on the upper half, directing her blows at Rainbow Dash face and neck, and in turn protect her own lower half more. Sensing an opportunity, Rainbow Dash countered Applejack's blows and went in for a head-butt, driving her attack back. She charged as Applejack recovered, tackling the thrall to the floor. She moved to pin Applejack's arms to the ground, but she quickly kneed Rainbow Dash's stomach and pushed her off. 'Failed to guard lower body.' Rainbow Dash thought. Her mind and body adjust to such a violent atmosphere rather quickly and nature. It was like she was built for it.

"Good work." Applejack sputtered between pants, moving back to the offense. "Now's the part where you look for your opponent's weakness, so that you may use it against them."

"Save the lesson, cur!" Rainbow Dash responded, a smirk upon her battered face. The rain outside had stopped.

Applejack lunged at her, but she ducked and spun, leaping herself to attack Applejack before she recovered. She tackled Applejack and pushed her against the wall, pinning the orange pony's arms and burying her own head into Applejack's shoulder. She switch focus to her lower body, landing a good kick at Applejack's stomach before she readjusted. Soon they were locked in a stalemate.

"Let…my friend go." Rainbow Dash muttered into Applejack's ear in-between forceful grunts and pants. Applejack soon broke Rainbow's defenses and threw her off. She did not attack however, and instead surveyed the area while Rainbow Dash recovered. The cyan pony reworked herself into a defensive position. Applejack did not attack.

"So you shall have it." She said with a sporty bow. "Something else has grasp my attention. An old friend's on her way to join us." With that, Rainbow Dash felt the presence of the harbinger lift, and Applejack fell to the floor. Rainbow Dash rushed to her side, but the grey pallet and dark eyes remained.

"Applejack… Are you okay?" She cried. Her eye twitched in pain. She'd never been in such a fight. Yet, the tips of her hooves radiated and her heart danced like she had never felt. She had enjoyed that fight.

Applejack's hollow eyes opened, but she quickly gasped and pushed herself away. "No, no… stay away! I don't need you!" She screamed, huddling herself into a corner. Her face flickered in pain, both emotionally and physically. She was not herself.

"Applejack… What's wrong with you?"

"Get out! Stay away."

Rainbow Dash stood in shock as the moon split the skyline. She turned her head to the nearby window parting the storm clouds, all in stasis, and rushed outside. Luna descended quickly from on high - as if called to action - rushing down towards the farmhouse. Rainbow Dash moved outside to the porch, bruised and scuffled, to greet the Princess. The clouds had been brushed aside, and the rain had stopped.

Princess Luna settled down upon the brazen earth before the farmhouse and approached it slowly. She spotted Rainbow Dash emerging from the battered frames of the front doorway, and a warm smile burst thru the shackled veneer of dread and worry that blanketed her face.

"Thank the stars, you're alright!" She cried as Rainbow Dash sauntered down from the steps towards the Princess. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Rainbow Dash boasted, wiping her lip. "Just a scrap. The harbinger possessed Applejack I guess. He caused some ruckus and then just took off - …Said somethin' about having 'bigger things to take care of.' I'm tired of all this cryptic talk."

Those words unsettled Luna greatly, tearing down the short joy she had found. "Let us leave this place. I fear he may be headed here. His storms have parted for me these last few hours, but I fear he has been allowing me passage for whatever reason. But now… I can't explain it… The air feels different - It has a great foreboding about it."

Rainbow Dash scratched at the back of her head, still coming down from the odd thrill of battle. "How'd you know I'd be hear?"

"Twilight Sparkle's thoughts were colored with worry for you. I came her for your rescue, although I should've known better than to expect you to need it. Come, Rainbow Dash, let us depart. We shall have time for discussion later."

The silent storm clouds above erupted in activity. The moonlit clove in the skyline above the farmstead felt it's borders pressured by surrounding black clouds. They grew more and more depraved and ornery, pressing down upon the skyline. From the cusp of a large cloud in the north was heard, as it were, the noise of thunder. Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash's attention was soon drawn to the domineering cloud and beheld the great white harbinger of darkness himself glaring down from atop the clouds mighty gale. The wind rose from the pale dirt and swirl about the two with increasing speed.

"He has come!" Luna screamed. "We must evacuate!"

Rainbow Dash drove her hoof hard into the dirt. "NO!" She bellowed, "No more running! All we've done so far is run and hide! No more! You and I are the strongest weather manipulators in all of Equestra, Princess. Let's show this punk that he can't push us around anymore."

Luna exhaled, and nodded. She was sick of running away herself. "Twilight and the others still run for Ponyville's central square. Let us part the clouds in their favor."

Rainbow Dash smiled as her eyebrows squeezed downward. "After you."

Luna shot up into the sky, ignoring the seedlings of worry and doubt that had littered her mind. But she had always been one to take action, even when it burned her. She summonsed a powerful gale to counteract the harbinger's, calming the gripping wind in the vicinity. Rainbow Dash rushed in behind her, throwing herself against the smaller storm clouds and ripping into them. With great effort, she was able to dissipate them.

Witnessing their actions, the dark harbinger set into action. He leaped after them, but in a somber and calm way like he had been eagerly awaiting the challenge. His exposed left eye glowed a shimmering, ink like black as he drew upon his magic. Terrible darkness radiated from his figure as he summoned more and more clouds and sent them towards the duo.

Rainbow Dash hurled herself into the forefront, sending a gust of wind at the approaching cloud line, and cut through them like a saber. A magic glow encompassed Luna horn as she sent a great flash of light his direction, visible paralyzing the beast for a few moments. The two used this time to advance towards the city, pushing aside the clouds as they moved. The moon lit more and more as they advanced.

The harbinger soon recovered, and went off after them. He conjured dark lightning from the atrabilious clouds, and had it shoot at the duo from every which way. Rainbow Dash maneuvered through the hazards with relative ease as Luna kept on her tail, taking a few hits. As they approached the town, a large black beam shot up from the clouds to their forefront. They looked up to see the harbinger circling above them.

"Most entertaining!" He taunted, "But try to at least be some challenge, would you?"

From the base of his hooves he rained aggregates of lightning down upon the duo. Luna dodge to the right and send a strong gale up towards him in an attempt to uncenter him. She turned her attention to breaching the dark barrier as Rainbow Dash charged him. Displaced and recovering, the dark harbinger found little defense against the dexterity of the cyan pony as she quickly bashed the clouds around him. He calculated and spread his grim alabaster wings and lunged at her. Although missing outright, the lighting and wind produced from his sudden movements clipped Rainbow Dash's wing and slowed her. Ignoring the sharp pain, Rainbow Dash centered herself and prepare for a second attack. The dark harbinger leered at her before taking off in the opposite direction, towards Princess Luna. Horrified at her unfortunate positioning, Rainbow Dash quickly followed.

As she worked to breach the barrier, Luna was taken aback as it suddenly fell with little resistance. Suspecting the harbinger had released it, she whipped herself around in time to witness his approached. He halted in his tracks and flicked a great mass of cloud and lightning her direction with his decadent wings. Unable to center herself, Luna fell victim to the attack and was launched into the air. As she tried to recover, Rainbow Dash soared in to her right and displaced the clouds that had gathered around the Princess.

Bleak, unnatural darkness now surrounded the harbinger as he lifted himself to up into the air with wings full erect at his sides. The sounds of the wind and sky faded as a deep, low grinding filled the ears of both Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash.

"He's preparing something awful!" Luna shouted at her comrade. "Our efforts are but entertainment for him, we must pull back and regroup with Twilight."

"I do NOT think so!" Rainbow Dash screamed recklessly, a furious anger solidifying in her eyes. "I will destroy him!"

She threw herself at the dark steed. Dark magic circled around him, and as she neared he unleashed a terrible spell that sent streams of sharp dark lightning throughout the sky in all directions. The clouds beneath them began to spin, and the sharp wind threw Rainbow Dash back. She was dazed as she launched backwards and smashed into the Princess. They both tumbled to the earth at a horrific speed. Luna could not regain control and felt a quick, sharp pain in her shoulders as she hit the ground, and blacked out.

"What's going on above us? Are you two hearing this!?" Rarity bellowed from the back of the group. Twilight and her triage found themselves slowing to a walk in the town. Lights and sounds beckoned from above the cloud line, far off in the distance. Twilight lowered her barrier - as the rain had stopped - and listen. Spike felt heavier and heavier on her back.

"I hear it, Rarity. I don't know what it is. Pinkie Pie, how much longer before we reach the town center?"

"Ten more minutes, give or take." Pinkie Pie responded quickly and sharply, her mind still on the earth ahead. "Watch your step, there are black puddles everywhere."

"We need to find a place to rest for a bit." Twilight ordered. "I need to put Spike down, and I'm magically exhausted. We'll need me at my fullest if the rain picks back up. What's around here?"

"There's an inn on the next block to our left." Pinkie said. "Let's go."

The soundscape picked up above them as they made their way to the inn. As the approached the front door, they heard the soundscape fade out and be replaced with a low hum - the hum indicative to the magic of the harbinger.

"Everypony inside! Now!" Twilight screamed. The group pushed their way into the well lit foyer of the abandoned inn as a great clap of thunder echoed throughout the sky. Recollecting themselves, the weary group placed their saddlebags and supplies down on the floor. Twilight laid Spike down on a couch near the door. The group then looked outside a nearby window and witness a terrible downpour.

"That looks like a cloudburst if I've ever seen one." Rarity stated. "If the black rain behaves anything like regular rain then it should subside shortly."

"We'll take an actual small break this time." Twilight cheekily ordered. "No discovering infected friends, no discussions, just in and out. We'll gather some supplies and head out as soon as the rain settles. Understood?"

Her friends nodded diligently. Rarity made for the kitchen with some empty bottles to fill, and Pinkie Pie collected three cupcakes for the ponies to snack on and placed them on a nearby coffee table. Twilight sat back in a couch and closed her eyes, eagerly awaiting the horrific event that would rob them of their peace.

Sure enough, the lights in the foyer flickered and died. Twilight's eyes shot open and she motioned her friends to regroup on her. A conclave of noise battered about above them on the second story with an eerie dullness to it.

"Might be a survivor upstairs, but it's probably something horrible." Twilight whispered to her friends. "Let's go check it out. Be ready to run."

The group moved up the stair, unaffected by the unsettling atmospheres. More bumps and sounds echoes from behind one of the closed doors, and Twilight kicked it open quickly. A large dark figure leaped from the window out into the night, and the lights slowly flickered back on. In the newly laminated inn room, Twilight could see a figure curled up under the covers in one of the beds.

"Who's in that bed? Want me to see?" Pinkie Pie asked in a whisper. Twilight nodded in response. "Be careful. We're right behind you."

Pinkie Pie slowly approached with her eyes locked on the figure in the bed. She moved quickly around and pulled the covers off. Beneath was Rainbow Dash, unconscious, with fresh bandages covering a clearly injured left shoulder and wing. She was patched up and resting.

"What on earth?" Twilight called out. "Luna? Luna, are you here?"

She was only met with silence.

Rarity rushed to Rainbow Dash's side. "Oh goodness! Do you think she's alright?"

Pinkie Pie was already examining her friend. "She seems okay. No darkness, no bleeding. Yeah, she just seems asleep. She's breathing alright." She turned to Twilight Sparkle. "Who was that we saw leaving as we came in? Was it Princess Luna?"

Twilight stood in confusion, puzzling. "It was… a little big to be Luna. I don't know, I'll see if I can talk to her in my sleep. Yeah, let's all get some sleep."

They had all been awake for too long, each over stimulated. Twilight found herself far too weary to be alarmed or unsettled. Rarity and Pinkie Pie behaved similarly, pulling the covers back over the unconscious Rainbow Dash. Twilight settled into the bed closed to the door, and the other tow settled down as well. All these worries began to plague Twilight's exhausted mind as she drifted into desperately needed sleep. No visions of Princess Luna came.


	7. Chapter 7: A Meeting of the Minds

Princess Luna awoke inside the refurbished home of Twilight Sparkle, well encased within the darkened pillar surrounding it. The library was not as virulent and depraved as she imagined it should be. The books were stacked rather neatly upon the shelves, the area well lit, and the dark harbinger sat as if oblivious to the destruction he wrought, leering down upon her from the cusp of an open book he lay before him.

"Hello, Luna." He said from atop his loft, glancing at the Princess before tilting his head back into his book. A large stack of the things lay neatly discarded behind him.

"Why am I here? What's going on!?"

"Questions, questions, questions." The dark harbinger said, clicking his words like a dry clock. His voice was almost completely monotone, apart from subtle wisps of anger and shame. "I'm telling you, it's all I seem to get around here. 'Why are you doing this?', 'Where are you hiding?'. I'm starting to get the feeling that none of you are happy to see me."

"Callous wretch!" Luna bellowed. She tried to push herself up from the floor, but fell back to it in fatigue. "Take your foul anger elsewhere!"

"Oh, I'm not angry… Not anymore." He replied bluntly, flipping the page in his book. "You really must rest, you took quite a fall. What ever were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that?"

Luna breathed heavily, taking notice of a pain in her side. She looked upon in, and found a clean bandage wrapped around a wound. "Did… did you treat my injury?"

"Of course." He answered dryly. "The rainbow one's too. Injuries of the body are little more than inconveniences, and I did not come here to make anypony suffer physically. And before you ask, I don't really know why I healed the two of you. It just felt right."

"You're a strange creature, defiler." Luna remarked, settling cautiously into the mat she lay upon. "What is your goal here, what are you after?"

"Ah. More questions. Wonderful." His eye lay glued upon his reading, albeit narrowing in his snide disposition.

"Forgive me, defiler, but you certainly raised more than you've answered."

"So be it. Ask you many questions, Princess, I will answer them."

"Why are you here?"

"Simple. I wanted some attention. Next question."

Luna scoffed. "Attention? That's it?"

The dark harbinger looked up from his studies, his exposed eye flickering in thought. "Mmm… Picture a rat that has not eaten in days. Would he not viciously seek nourishment, perhaps even in a bestial or wretched way? I bare little difference. We're all slaves to our impulses, aren't we? We're quite alike, you and I." He returned to his book, dwelling little on the subject.

"I beg your pardon." Luna replied. It was strange to converse with such an erudite creature so openly. She had pictured the harbinger as something much darker, more sinister. Yet, despite his appearance and power, she did not feel a foreboding about him. Not in this atmosphere. "You and I are quite different, defiler. I do not suffer your moral sickness, you're disregard for the lives you tread upon."

Such a venomous statement did not phase the dark harbinger, who continued his reading. A slight flare occurred in his alabaster nostrils poking out from the craven bandages he bore. "Is that so? Are we so different, Nightmare Moon? Are our methods to simply achieve recognition, appreciation for our actions so different, so diametrically opposed? We've both suffered… indignities. At least they remembered you."

Luna felt a strange connection, an aura of familiarity lingering upon her battered frame. He was so right, so sure of himself. "Why did you spare me the horrors you've afflicted elsewhere?"

"The only creature I've afflicted directly is your haughty sister, but she simply needed to be taken out of the game immediately. The rest did it to themselves, although I certainly gave them a push. Yet, even if I had such a direct play in events, I won't afflict you directly. Such a thing would feel like fratricide, Luna - like throwing what remains of me into perdition. You were redeemed. That's hopeful."

Luna was taken aback. "You confuse me."

He seemed to grin, in his own right. "Indeed. It is such a quiet thing: to fall. To turn away from one's graces, to abandon what one stood for, to stop resisting the darker impulses that come with instinct and the devils of our nature and violently seize what we so desperately want at the expense of others. Worse still is to be so aware of it, to feel and despise that evil worm that lurks within you, to sit with it for a millennia, for two. All evil is a slave, Luna. The dark harbinger and Nightmare Moon are no exception. I am but a pitiful slave. A pawn in a game I threw myself into foolishly. All for something so fickle, so unimportant. The important thing was the good that came out of what I did, not the nothing I received for it. The less then nothing I got and have lived with…"

"What is it, that which you covet so?"

He paused, peering down at her with his brow in sadness and depravity. In that moment, Luna did pity him, that wretch beast responsible for so much pain and struggle, like one pities a despairing friend or jaded mentor..

In a quiet voice, he spoke.

"I want somepony to remember me."


	8. Chapter 8: Harmony Chlorine

Twilight shook herself awake. The sky outside remained fixed at night. There was no indication of the passage of time. She panted to herself in worry; No dreams or visions of Luna had come from the night before, just the bitter blankness of unconsciousness. She still felt weary, despite just know waking. She scanned the dim room. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash lay still in their beds, asleep. Rarity was not.

Twilight collapsed back into her pillow. All the stimulation and questions weighed heavy on her mind. She could practically feel her subconscious buzzing and foaming as it poured over any and all information, vying to make sense of the events that had taken place before. She sat back up soon, shutting her eyes and taking in the warmth of the peaceful silence of the room. Her head and legs ached, but she was safe and still here in this moment. She opened her eyes and scanned for Rarity.

Rarity stood just outside the room on a balcony overlooking the perpetual nighttime sky. The schism in the clouds was intact, albeit waning, and the moon stood fixed in place in the sky. Twilight pulled herself from the bed and moved passed her sleeping comrades to that balcony. The air was still and quiet, apart from a slight breeze, but had no sense of foreboding to it. It felt like a calm before the storm.

Rarity stood quietly, peering up at the stars in the sky with a strange mixture of horror and wonder on her face. She subtly acknowledged Twilight Sparkle's approach and appropriated some room on the balcony for her trouble friend, propping herself on the railing with her two front legs. Twilight Sparkle settled beside her.

"The stars…" Rarity mused, after a bit of soft silence. "I've never really looked at them like this before. They're beautiful, aren't they?"

A clove between the legion of storm clouds lay peaceful beneath a bright, full moon. The landscape and sky seemed to be resting, reflecting the weariness of the ponies below.

"All the rainclouds have certainly given me a new appreciation for them." Twilight responded, trying her best to be sound cheerful despite her grim thoughts and disposition. "Back before all this started, I found myself with a sudden fascination with space and the stars. You be surprised how much yet how little we know about them."

"It's funny, isn't it?" Rarity's words trembled as she spoke them. Her gaze stayed fixed upon the immobile moon, glittering in the distance. She tried to smile. "A few days ago, when I woke up I couldn't have even dreamed this would happen. But here we are. Everything that felt so important back then seems so inconsequential right now. All those things I worried about and doubted then mean pretty much nothing. But now, all I feel for is my baby sister… and for Spike, for all our friends caught in this. And we still have no idea how to even keep this darkness at bay, let alone defeat it. Kinda makes you feel so helpless, huh?"

"What are you saying?" Twilight responded, "That we should just give up?"

"Of course not." Rarity shook her head, speaking in a weak voice that lie on the precipice of tears. She stared up at the sky like it was all that gave her strength.

The clouds began to close over the shimmering moon like a hound snapping up his food. Subtle thunder echoed from a distance very softly, as though in mourning.

Rarity smiled, despite her pained expression. "This will all end. Whether we defeat it or fall to it, this darkness will pass. And the stars… they will remember us for this."

Twilight Sparkle watch the clouds slowly seize up the sky, and listen to the somber wind whisper in her ears. She closed her eyes and retraced an old, buried thought and brought it back from the depths of her mind. "I think about that kind of stuff a lot - about the heroes in the stories and how they were years before their great adventure. I was always relished in the thought that _that _was where I was; I was living in that weird time before my adventure story started and that the quest would find me like it did all the heroes in all the stories I loved. And I was thrilled and entertained, even while they suffered such hardship and tribulation, because I knew it would all work out in the end. Now here I am, right in the middle of some trying event, and I miss that comfort. I don't know if every things going to work out in the end."

A soft, warm silence folded over the two as they stood on that balcony, watching the soft defeat of the moon's light.

"Maybe defeat is the wrong way to look at it…" Twilight Sparkle whispered.

"What do you mean by that?" Rarity asked, shifting her attention to the still periwinkle pony beside her.

"Just a fragment of a larger thought, one I felt a while ago." Twilight explained, voice hushed yet harsh and poignant. "Maybe looking at this as an obstacle to defeat and over come isn't the right way to look at it. Maybe that's why we're failing."

"Well, if the way we've been going about this is the wrong way, what's the right way?"

Twilight Sparkle shifted her gaze downward, the rest of her unmoving. "I have no idea."

Rarity looked back up at the stars. "Do you think the dark harbinger is evil? I mean, he's let us go multiple times, he hasn't messed with Luna at all… and I think he healed Rainbow Dash…"

Twilight felt no such pity in this moment. "He's a menace, and we've got to stop him." Her words were harsh and abrupt.

Rarity maintained her wondrous, thoughtful way. "We know a lot about him, yet so little. Maybe he's like the stars - misinterpreted and wondrous. If defeating is the wrong way to go, maybe we should try understanding him."

Twilight scoffed. "What, do want to just walk up and talk to him?"

Rarity puzzled for a while. "Well… yeah. Maybe."

Twilight sat back in silence, listening to the noise of thunder rumble of in the sky. It sounded more depraved and terrifying now, encapsulating the moon and remnants of the sky. The area was now fully clouded, and the subtle peace had all vanished. The wind picked up.

Twilight thought back to the stay Sweet Apple Acres and how she wondered if the harbinger might be saved. She did not hold such mercy in her heart now, but considered the thought once more. 'Walk up and talk to him…' she thought, 'Well, we've had worse ideas…'

"We should get back inside before it rains." She said abruptly.

The room inside remain still and dimly lit, apart for the now awake Pinkie Pie sitting up in her bed. She greeted to the two with a small smile before crawling out of the bed onto the floor below. She too still appeared weary, her eyelids heavy and tempered. Yet she smiled, clinging to happiness like it was all she knew and all she owned. Twilight could sense something heavy on the pink pony's mind.

"Did you get a good nights sleep?" A banal and silly question. Twilight already knew the answer; none of them had managed a good night's sleep. But the question was enough to begin to work her way into Pinkie's mind and find what troubled her so. Twilight couldn't have any uncertainty in the heads of her comrades.

"I had a very strange dream. It wasn't a nightmare… but it wasn't anything good either… " Pinkie Pie conjured the subject quickly. She had been eagerly awaiting the opportunity. "I dreamt that all of you had dark eyes and broken features like shattered images in a mirror. I called out to each of you, but none of you knew me. The more I called out, the farther and farther away you all moved. And then I was in a desert, all alone. The I woke up."

"What do you think it means?"

"I… I've been thinking about that legend a lot - the one about Ponietheus. Can you image fighting and struggling alongside so many friends for so long just to have them all forget about you in the end? I… It would be devastating, wouldn't it? Maybe that's the significance. Maybe the harbinger…" Her words trailed off. Twilight could see she was afraid to continue that thought.

"'Maybe the harbinger' what?" She pried.

"…I don't know, yet." Pinkie Pie said softly, her eyes still downward.

'Textbook deflection' Twilight Sparkle thought, analyzing her friend. 'Voice dropped of, avoid eye contact, remove self from conversation. No use prying here, she'll tell us when she's ready.' She turned her attention to Rainbow Dash, who lie still in her bed resting. The bandages she bore upon a scuff and gash upon her right wing and shoulder were remarkable similar to the one's wrapped all around the harbinger.

Shaking off her surface thoughts, Twilight turned back to her friends. "Let's let Rainbow Dash sleep a little longer. Pinkie, stay up here and watch her. Rarity and I will gather some breakfast and bring it back up. We'll leave in thirty minutes and head to the town square to look for the survivors Luna mentioned and continue from there. Understood?"

Her friends nodded somniferously and moved out militantly. Twilight followed Rarity out the door and down the nearby stairs into the foyer below. A sharp rush of dread shot up Twilight's spine as the couch she had left Spike in came into view empty with a blanket discarded on the floor nearby. Spike was gone.

Rarity halted suddenly in front of her. "Where's Spike?" she asked aloud in a whisper.

Twilight breathed thru her panic. "I don't know. He might have become grey like Applejack… If so, be on alert; The harbinger might take control of him."

They preceded slowly. The pile of saddlebags and supplies lay undisturbed in the corner, and the rest of room seemed to hold it's breath. Soft tapping, sounding like chitin on wood, came from the kitchen nearby. They moved towards the sound, sticking to the walls and sides of doorways and moving past the foyer into the kitchen. The noise tapped from the inside of a nearby cupboard on the bottom rack near the oven. Twilight approached the cupboard door as Rarity stood back near the door leading into the kitchen. She nodded at Twilight, prepared to catch source of the noise if it fled. Twilight swung the door open.

Inside lay Spike. He was grey and bitter with his eyes closed as if asleep. The tapping came from strange flickers and convulsions in which he twitched back and forth between a cold, dim form and his regular colored self - similar to his state before. The bleak darkness that had once cocooned him had past, but the curse was not fully set. Twilight wondered if he remained conscious beneath the spell that plagued him still.

"Spike! What's he doing under there?" Rarity asked in a hushed, concerned voice.

"He looks like he's sleeping." Twilight responded dryly. She hesitated, then reached her hoof into the space in the cupboard and gave Spike a quick touch before promptly yanking her hoof back. She studied the hoof she'd used for any residue. Spike was brittle and cold to the touch, but no darkness spread. She pulled Spike out from the cupboard and settled his still form upon her back. His twitching impulses remain, and forced her to continuously readjust.

"Do you think he's alright? Why is he twitching like that?" Rarity hounded as Twilight moved back into the foyer. "He was like this earlier too, back when he was completely black." Twilight responded bluntly and informatively. "I think the spell needs it's host to be in a very specific state of mind and Spike wasn't fully in tune. He's not completely affected like Applejack and Fluttershy were. Who knows, maybe he's fighting it."

"Fighting it? Is he conscious under there?"

"He was back at Sweet Apple Acres. I used the barrier spell to amplify the sound around me and, for whatever reason, I could hear his thoughts if I focused. It was very informative."

Twilight Sparkle laid Spike back down on the couch and fetched a fresh blanket from the scattered supplies to cover him with. His lower surface temperature concerned her greatly.

Rarity stood over her shoulder as she worked, appearing worrisome and reserved. "Are you going to try communicating with him again? Do you think it will still work?" she asked.

"I have no idea." Twilight responded. She felt far to tired to feel worried or annoyed. "Grab some food and bring it to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, would you? I'm going to talk to Spike." Rarity expressed dissatisfaction at her new orders in her face and movements; Sensing this, Twilight added a quick addendum: "I believe the spell has entered some sort of 'second stage'. It may be much more powerful than before, and it affects one's mind greatly. If I cannot break thru to him, perhaps you will. He's always… cared very much for you."

Rarity smiled, seeing right thru Twilight's careful choice of words. "Yes, I know." She gathered some food and water from the nearby saddlebag and moved towards the stairs. "Do call if you need me."

As Rarity proceeded up the stairs, Twilight couldn't help but smile to herself. 'Spike would be furious…' she thought. She closed her eyes and prepared her barrier, securing her earmuffs on her head. She conjured her spell, and was immediately plagued by a sonic screeching. She threw the barrier down quickly, and pressed her hooves to her ears. The screeched echoed fiercely, pulsating about her head. The lights in the room flickered as if squeezing their eyes shut in pain, mimicking Twilight Sparkle as she fell backwards. As she settled and panted, the room returned to silence.

"That was unexpected…" She said out loud.

With the screeching subsiding, Twilight settled herself and prepared to try again. She threw her barrier up, and the screeching returned more severely. The noise forced her backwards, and she stumbled into the pile of supplies in the corner with such a foul ringing in her ears. She pressed her hooves into the sides of her temple, messaging the blood vessels there. As the residue of the screeching circled and dissipated, she shut her eyes and focused on her breathing.

Many moments passed as she took deep, deep breaths. The awful noise was gone once again. Twilight then open her eyes in time to witness Spike rolled on his side facing her. His blank, dim eyes met hers. But he was still, apart from the occasional flicker.

"Stop." he said, suddenly. "It knows what you did last time, it's not going to work. You're wasting time. Find the survivors!"

And with that he flickered away, curling himself up into a quiet ball and closing his eyes once again. Twilight sat back in a bit of awe as the room turned back to soft silence once more. "It knows?" she asked aloud to herself. ''it'. not 'he'.' she thought. 'strange choice of words.' She pushed herself up from the messy pile she had occupied and moved to the stairs, stopping for a moment to look back at Spike. She felt herself smile as she proceeded up the stairs.

The atmosphere up on the second floor was a bit more arid then she remembered it being a few minutes ago. As she reached the top of the stairs, she stopped in thought. The passage of time had eluded her, and she suddenly wonder what time it was. She inhaled and felt herself breath in deeply. She closed her eyes and was compelled to listen. She soon heard ticking.

Exhaling, Twilight proceeded toward the ticking with her eyes clamped shut. Yet, she could perceive the world around her, avoiding obstacles and turning corners as she made her way down the hallway. The ticking grew louder and louder, and when she open her eyes again she found herself before a small clock on a dresser in an empty room. Her sense returning to normal, she found the soft ticking of the clock as it counted time was barely audible, even in the stark silence of the inn.

She was a bit baffled by the experience; she'd never done anything like that before. 'No…' she thought, 'Now's not the time…. I'll think about it later.' She brought her head down close to the clock and strained her eyes to see the time.

It read 4:38.

Twilight couldn't remember if it should be A.M. or P.M. She recalled Luna saying it was around dawn when she last spoke to the Princess, but she couldn't remember correctly. Her mind buzzed about her skull, twisting and turning in questions and quandaries. She soon felt quite tired.

"Twilight?" a soft voice came from behind her, snapping her back into reality. She turned to see Pinkie Pie enter the room behind her. "I thought I heard something… Is everything okay?"

Twilight still felt the buzzing in her head. The room looked and felt different then before. It seemed brighter and more filtered. She struggled to answer that simple question. "Okay?… Y-Yeah. I'm fine. I found a clock. …How are you?"

Pinkie Pie stared at her with a mark of concerned confusion. Twilight laughed to herself; She had manage to confuse Pinkie Pie. _Pinkie Pie!_

"I'm fine." Pinkie answered, voice oddly stern. "You've been behaving… strangely recently. Did you get any sleep last night?"

"I think last night was this morning…" Twilight answered, motioning towards the clock. "It's almost 5. P.M., I think…"

Pinkie Pie was unamused. "You didn't answer the question… Did you get any sleep?"

"Yeah, but I don't know how much. Why are you so worried all of a sudden."

"Well… When this all started you were your usual stressed-out self. But now you're sort of… calm. It's weird, you shouldn't be calm…"

Twilight laughed. "Yeah, and you shouldn't be so serious…"

Pinkie Pie peered over Twilight's shoulder at the clock on the desk. "…Does that thing even make any noise?" she asked as she moved closer, "How'd you know it was in here."

'Such a quick change in subject…' Twilight thought, analyzing Pinkie's words and movements, 'No, she had something to say but she didn't say it right. I know what she meant…'

"It was strange… I just kinda heard it." Twilight explained, "Soon it was all I could hear, like the rest of the world just faded out. I wanted to know the time… And there it is."

Pinkie Pie stared at the clock. "'Rest of the world fading out'? Sounds like what the harbinger does to ponies, you know? Maybe he's a powerful magic user, like you."

"Well of course he is… He's summoned this darkness and all the storms, right?"

Pinkie Pie moved her attention away from the clock and back towards the door. She moved her way there, prompting Twilight Sparkle to follow. "No, I don't think he commands the darkness… It seems to kinda move on it's own, don't you think? Maybe it's a separate thing, and all he does is move it around. I mean, if he wanted us all infected, then why doesn't he come after us? He's more then a match for us, why doesn't he just swoop in and take us out already?"

They moved into the hallway, proceeding down towards the room they had slept in the night before. Twilight remember Spike's words. He had used 'it' instead of 'he'. She stopped in her tracks. "I think… I think you might be right, Pinkie. He also seemed so distant and sad… Maybe the darkness is controlling him, not the other way around."

Pinkie Pie stopped in front of her and cocked her head back. "He's an alicorn, you know…"

Twilight was utterly shocked. "An alicorn? How do you know?"

"Rainbow Dash is awake. She told us what had happened. He flew after her and Luna."

Twilight stood puzzled. She hadn't noticed him having wings. "But… but only members of royalty are alicorns… Celestia, Luna, Cadence and myself… He can't be royalty, we'd have heard of him…"

Pinkie Pie smiled weakly as she nudged the bedroom door open. "With one question answered, ten more open up, right?"

Twilight matched that smile. "It's just the way it goes…"

Rainbow Dash sat up in her bed, her bandaged right wing glistening in the cold light of the room. She munched on an apple zealously. Rarity lay on the bed beside her, chewing softly on her own breakfast. They both turned their heads to the door.

"Mornin' egghead!" Rainbow Dash shouted, wearily chipper. "Nice of you to join us for breakfast!"

"How are you feeling, Rainbow?" Twilight asked. She felt her stomach rumble. She hadn't eaten in a while.

"Apart from the wing, I'm okay." Rainbow Dash responded. She tried to spread the injured wing, but was met with pained resistance. "Yeah, I won't be flying for a bit. But, other then that I'm okay. I'm really hungry!" She returned to munching on her apple.

"She's eaten four of them." Rarity taunted. Rainbow Dash elbowed her playfully. "Shut up! At least I did something besides cry and yell the whole time!"

Rarity scoffed. "Uck! I was rather distressed at the time, you know. In fact, I seem to recall a certain brash pony cracking a bit in a forest somewhere…"

As the two ponies continued to playfully rib each other, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie settled down on the floor near the bed with their own breakfast. Twilight smiled, despite the somber atmosphere holding up her mind.

A silence befell the room as the ponies settled into their breakfast. Twilight Sparkle found her appetite lacking. None of the food she had laid out before seemed appealing of satisfying. She felt strange; Her appetite had been waning the past few days and she had been eating less and less.

Pinkie Pie took notice. "Not hungry?"

Twilight shook her head. "No. Not at all."

Rarity peered down at the two on the floor. "You two seem a bit off… Twilight, are you feeling alright?"

Twilight smiled weakly. "I'm fine. Just not hungry."

Rarity tilted her head with a look of gentle concern. "How long has it been since you last ate?"

"I don't really know."

Pinkie Pie nudged her. "Try to eat something!"

Twilight looked down at an apple on a plate before. She felt so disinterested in any kind of food, and felt no hunger whatsoever. Nevertheless, she leaned down and took a bite from the apple and chewed it slowly. An aura of peace imbued her friends and they all seemed to relax. Twilight Sparkle could tell they all were worried about her, and not solely for her lack of hunger. She couldn't help but laugh to herself. 'I'm the one that should be worried, not them.' she thought, 'I'm always worried…' She took another small bite from her apple.

Rarity broke the silence. "…Did you have any luck with Spike?" She tried to sound calm, but the question trembled on her tongue. She had been waiting quite awhile for this answer.

"Yes and no…" Twilight began, swiftly swallowing her mouthful of apple. "The barrier trick didn't work, but he talked to me. That confirms that he's conscious in there AND that the infection spell hasn't full effected him. Who knows, maybe he's the key to making some kind of antidote…"

Rainbow Dash grimaced slightly, her right shoulder tensing up. "Barrier trick? What are you talking about?"

"Back at Sweet Apple Acres, I discovered that I could talk to Spike with the sound amplification side effect of my barrier." Twilight explained, "I can't really explain why, but it worked. But this time, there was a terrible screeching when I tried it. Spike told me 'it knows what you did last time'. I think the darkness itself is aware and activated some kind of defense."

Rainbow Dash leaned back in confusion. "I don't get it. What, did you hear his thoughts or something? I didn't think that was even possible."

Twilight shrugged. "I can't explain it, but it worked. After breakfast, we're heading to the town square. Once we find the survivors, we'll focus on making the hazmat suits and seeing if we can track down Luna."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I have no idea what happen to her. I remember crashing into her and hitting the ground then waking here. But if Pinkie Pie's right and he's the one who patched my wing then I'm sure he's put her somewhere too. I think he's pretty aware that she's the one that's been helping us."

Twilight took a third bite from her apple. '…Walk up and talk to him…' she thought.

The town around them was still and weary. Twilight could feel a strange amplified intolerance about the atmosphere, like the town was just as agitated at it's situation as she was. The skies about remain cloudy and dim, but no rain fell and the puddles on the cobblestone roads and the roofs of the buildings were more and more scarce. Twilight Sparkle lead the group this time with Spike secure on her back and a bright light conjured from her horn. The streets were cold and desolate, but familiar.

Twilight stopped in her tracks; She spotted a figure dashing about on top of a nearby roof top, too small to be the harbinger. She stared up at the spot, analyzing the nearby areas for similar movement.

"Why did you stop, what's wrong?" came a nervous whisper from Rarity, who stood directly behind her.

"I thought I saw movement up on the rooftops." Twilight explained in a hushed tone, "It was too small to be the harbinger, but keep an eye out! It would be safer to assume hostile."

The group began walking again, their eyes scanning the buildings above. They soon approached the town's square. The large fountain in it's center was a grim sight, laced with darkness and debris. The water inside lay still and cumbersome, littered with bits of rock and dirt. The buildings all stood in a circle, leering down upon the group. Twilight peered up at the battered buildings around her, searching for any more movement.

She sudden heard a hushed female voice above her, "Twilight Sparkle! Up here!"

Twilight's eyes shot up to the figure above on the rooftops. She wore a large raincoat with it's hood propped over her head. Dark spots littered the grey coat. "Get to town hall! Knock three times and say, 'I'm seeking a better way'. They'll let you in!" the figure commanded. She then disappeared.

"Who do you think that is, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked in a whisper, following close behind the periwinkle pony as she moved across the macabre square towards the towering town hall.

"Does it matter? I doubt she's infected, she's probably a survivor." Twilight responded calmly, approaching the large wooden doors of town hall. She moved her hoof up, preparing to strike the door.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Rarity chirped from behind, sinking into the back of the group behind Rainbow Dash.

Twilight pounded firmly upon the door three times as commanded, then leaned in quickly and stated in an over-enunciated tone, "I'm seeking a better way!"

The doors sat silent for a moment with the bitter silence surrounding the ponies seeping in quickly. Twilight felt herself scooting back from the doors, matching the solemn trepidation of Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash stood firmly in place.

A small slide a bit above eye level slid open quickly. A pair of arduous green eyes appeared in the slit and peered down at the group for a recognizably small amount of time before the slide slammed closed once more. The mechanical clicks and clocks of a the doors mechanisms buzzed as locks and chains were opened and removed. The massive doors were soon pulled back, allowing the group entrance. The figure behind the door stepped out into the light. He was a tall crimson stallion with sleepy eyes and a large work horse collar upon his neck.

"Hello. Y'all best get inside 'n' talk to the mayor" he said, softly and laconically.

"Big McIntosh?" Twilight exclaimed, moving into the building. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in town when everythin' started." He explained, leading the battered group of ponies into the hallway after closing and locking the large wooden doors. "A bunch of us ran in here. Less then a dozen of us now."

His expression was weary and somber. Twilight Sparkle's ears sank back as she followed him into town hall. She wondered he knew about Applejack and Apple Bloom, and if she should be the one to tell him about them.

"Big Mac…" she said solemnly, "I-I just thought you should know… Your sisters…they…"

"Hush up now." Big McIntosh interrupted with a calmed, but sad disposition. "I saw them for myself this mornin'. Best not to talk 'bout it anymore."

Soon they entered a large convention hall. Booths, sleeping bags and other emergency supplies lay scattered about the disorderly complex. The atmosphere was musky but well lit, but the room was nearly void of life. It was creaky but quiet and somber.

"The mayor should be up in her office over yonder…" Big McIntosh pointed towards a small doorway before turning back and heading back towards the front door.

Twilight set Spike down on a nearby table, and her friends settled their supplies and saddle bags beside him. They moved thru the large empty room and into the small door, which lead to hallway of offices. Light shimmered thru the thick glass of the room at the end of the hallway, providing foil to the dark, dim doors of the offices on either side. As the group proceeded down the hallway, strange and devious noises could be heard from the dark rooms. Each door was encumbered with a mighty lock. Twilight payed little attention to them, and pushed her way towards the muffled conversation coming from the brightly light mayor's office. As she opened the door, the voices inside quickly hushed, and the two occupants quickly shifted their attention towards the bedraggled group entering the office.

"Mayor Mare! Zecora! It's nice to see both of you!" Twilight exclaimed, instantly recognizing the occupants.

Mayor Mare smiled, but remained reserved behind her desk. Zecora's disposition light up at the sight of the group.

"Twilight Sparkle! I had feared you had become lost to the silence plaguing the town." She exclaimed, approaching the group, "It is good to see you still walking around!"

Twilight smiled, feeling strains of relief, "It's good to see you too, Zecora."

"It is indeed good to see the lot of you." Mayor Mare stated intently from behind her desk. Her eyes, however, remained stern and somber. "Princess Luna did inform us that she had found you."

"Yes! The Princess has sent us, and we come bearing news that must get thru!" Twilight said quickly, moving to the forefront. "I have been using what time I can to study the effects and application of the horrible magic being used against us…"

"I'm very sure of that," the mayor stated, voice filled with authority, "Zecora's the one you should really speak with. She's been doing her own investigations ever since we sought refuge here. However, she and I have a bit of… personal business to discuss. I ask that you and your group please wait in the common room, and I shall sent her out momentarily."

"What?!" Rainbow Dash barked with insubordination, "We've been busting our humps just to find you ponies, and you can't even give us the time of day!?"

"Rainbow Dash, please!" Twilight interrupted quickly and harshly, "Now is not the time for flaring tempers." She turned back to the mayor and gave a solemn bow, "Forgive us, mayor, we've been under a great deal of stress the past few days. We shall wait in the common room."

"There's nothing to apologize for, Twilight Sparkle," the mayor responded callously, "We've all felt the surge of strong emotion in these dark times. I thank you for your patience and I shall be with you shortly."

Rainbow Dash held a stern face of bitter resentment as the group left the room. She hovered close to Twilight Sparkle. "What was that? Don't 'apologize' for me like I'm some kid thats made a scene in a supermarket. We're operating on strict royal orders, and we've all been put thru the ringer just to get here! Heck, I fought Applejack and chased the harbinger around the skies to get us here!"

"Silence, Rainbow!" Twilight barked, her own temper now flaring, "Not every problem can be solved by kicking down the door and hollering! The mayor asked us to wait, so that's what we're going to do! I appreciate what you've done, we all do, but I'm far to worn out to argue with anypony, so please stay quiet and let me handle this!"

Rainbow Dash was visible angered but Twilight's words, but stubbornly kept her mouth shut. She rudely pushed her way past Twilight and into the conference hall. Twilight got mad herself, and prepare to march over and confront her, but Rarity was quick to hold her back.

"Not now, Twilight dear. Let her cool down." She said calmly.

Pinkie Pie remained oddly quiet, and she moved off by herself towards their pile of supplies and fetch from her saddleback a deflated red balloon. In that place she sat, blowing all the air she could muster into that one small red balloon until it grew large and full. And then she released it, and watched with a strange and scarce look of simple happiness as it floated up and settled on the high ceiling above.

Twilight found the simple event to evoke and unexpectedly powerful emotional response, and for several undisclosed and immeasurable moments, she stood locked in place beside Rarity, staring up at the red balloon as Pinkie Pie did. She had never known peace like she did in that strange moment, staring up at the bright balloon as it bounced along the grim ceiling. She soon turned her attention to Pinkie Pie, who sat still and quietly in place staring up at it. Twilight tilted her head curiously.

"Funny." she said out loud to nopony in particular.

"What's funny?" Rarity asked.

Twilight heard her words, but did not truly take them in. She was speaking to herself, not Rarity. She had noticed Pinkie Pie's behavior and her strange turn towards seriousness, but here in this moment watching a stupid balloon dance among the rafters on the ceiling, she felt like she understood the odd pink pony for the very first time.

"Twilight?" came another ignored question from Rarity, "Hey Twilight, Zecora's here."

Twilight felt herself snap quickly back into reality, and turned to greet the zebra. Rarity moved towards a nearby table to converse with the sulking Rainbow Dash. Zecora motioned for Twilight to follow her. "So, you have been studying those taken by darkness. Tell me all you have found."

They began walking about the large, empty room. "Well, it appears the darkness attaches itself to a victim and remains dormant until triggered. I believe the trigger is an emotional response, namely a distressing one like fear or anxiety. The darkness demoralizes the victim and covers their body, all the while deadening their senses. While in this state, however, the victim is conscious and, on more then one account, appears to be a little bit aware of their outside surroundings. Hearing must return, if it was lost at all."

"How do you know this?" Zecora asked, stopping in her tracks.

"Spike and Applejack…" Twilight answered, "Mainly Spike, though. At one point I… listened to his thoughts. I can't explain it, but he was in there. His case is a unique one, I think. He shows signs of not being full affected. He flickers and jolts, and has even talked to me."

"Where is young Spike now?" Zecora asked calmly.

Twilight motioned towards their scattered things. "I brought him here. He's laying over there.:

Zecora gasped and drew back, "You brought an affiliated here into our safe house? You risk much, Twilight Sparkle. The lone defiler can see thru them, and should he discover our location…"

"Lone defiler?" Twilight questioned, "Oh… the dark harbinger! That creature bound in bandages…"

Zecora nodded. "Ay, that one. Fetch Spike quickly. We shall put him with…" Her words dropped off quickly, and she drew back.

Twilight pried, disliking Zecora's sudden silence, "…With what?"

Zecora looked down to the floor. "You will see." she said softly, "Quickly now. Then we shall discuss the 'second stage'."

Twilight reluctantly obeyed, moving to gather the still, sleeping Spike as he lay in his blanket upon the floor. As she hoist him up upon her back, she witness Zecora speaking to Pinkie Pie, who still sat close by watching her balloon.

"Gather you friends and speak to the mayor, if you don't mind Ms. Pinkie." she said, "She's requested you go to her office quickly." Pinkie Pie nodded softly and picked herself up. She motioned towards Twilight. "Leave Rainbow Dash and Rarity to me." she stated intently, "We'll focus on the hazmat suits and the mayor. You stay focused on your thing."

Twilight nodded with a smile, "Thanks, Pinkie." With Spike in tow, she followed Zecora to the back hallway. "So I told you what I know, Zecora." she said, "Your turn to talk now."

Zecora frowned, "I know little more then you do, Twilight Sparkle. But there is one thing I know that I cannot prove, but it is both true and terrible important." She stopped and turned quickly to Twilight Sparkle, a look of stern concern on her face. "Whatever this magic is, it is not of the natural world. The wind and trees tremble before it, and no potion or medicine can touch it. It is older than nature. Much older. It moves with the foul power of being above spirit and wind."

Those words sank deep into Twilight's heart. They were awful words. "How do you know this?" she whispered.

"I simply do. My blood and bone tell me so." Zecora responded, weary and saddened. "I do not know how to combat this plague, but it is not with science or medicine. Now come. There is a place where we can keep Spike safe." She moved into the dim hallway and stopped in front of the dark, locked doors. As she reached for the key, she turned once more to Twilight Sparkle. "What lay within this room will vex you." she said, "Prepare your emotions."

Twilight grimaced as Zecora unlocked and opened the door. The room was stuffy and still within, but appeared clean and habitable with a bed, a bowl of water and a writing desk askew in the corner. "…Who's there?" came the squeak of a soft and familiar voice.

"Fluttershy!?" Twilight shouted, eyes widened. A dim, grey figure poked it's head out from behind the wooden desk before popping back behind it. "Begone!" Fluttershy called out, "Begone dim creatures! Leave me to be forgotten!" Hers words were odd and cold.

Twilight snapped her head towards Zecora in a quick fit of fury. "Has she been your test subject?" she snarled, "How long has she been lock away back here in the dark!"

Zecora retained her calm composure. "Fluttershy is not herself." she explained, "We have kept her well fed and cared for, I assure you. Her words and ways are not her own, but the lone defiler has not used her as an instrument of his will for a while now."

"Go away!" Fluttershy shouted from behind the desk, "It's never going to get any better than this!"

"…That is mostly all she says." Zecora continued, "When the affiliated shift into the second stage, they become hollow memories of the emotion they experienced when they were first infected. The lone defiler can exert his will upon them, though, and they become tools for his use. He has involved himself in affairs here little, curiously."

Twilight's mind raced. "Wait…. The town was so empty as we made our way here. Where are all the other second stages?"

"They are off at the edges of the storm that covers the skies here." Zecora explained, "They are preventing any ponies from entering or leaving Ponyville or Canterlot. I have watched the defiler himself keep the storm and second stages from spreading. Whatever misery he as brought upon this land, he wishes it to remain here, and it wishes to spread."

Twilight set Spike down on a small couch near the door. "Do you think the defiler controls the darkness, or do you think the darkness controls the defiler."

Zecora looked at her and smiled slightly, "So you believe the two the be separate entities as well? I am glad. Nopony here would accept such truths. I do not know who the more powerful force is, but I can tell you this: They are at odds. Their end goals are not the same."

Twilight laughed to herself, her brain buzzing with what she should consider to be a horrid idea. '…Walk up and talk to him…' she thought.

Twilight thought for a good while in that dark room. She poured over possible outcomes for an upcoming rash decision, one that would most definitely end badly. "I have a theory, Zecora…" She began, walking out the door into the dank hallway, "But it isn't complete. I have to test it…"

Zecora took heed of the sudden spark in Twilight's eye. It was a worrisome spark of a grand idea, one that had been building up in the subconscious for a very long time. "What are you planning to do, dear Twilight?" Zecora asked frightfully, following her into the large conference room, "Something rash, I fear."

"I have to test this, Zecora." Twilight said eager, motioning toward the big cumbersome front door, "I'll be back when I can. Put Pinkie in charge of my group until I get back. She's been doing surprisingly well." Twilight made off towards the door.

"Twilight! Wait!" Zecora called from back in the conference room. Twilight paid her no attention; She felt she need to walk up and talk to him. Fighting wasn't working, running wasn't working, thinking wasn't working - It was time to try talking. She approached the door steadfast. "Open the door, please, Big Mac!" she ordered, "I've got some business in the town."

Twilight Sparkle approached the destitute library sitting calmly and quietly in it's place as if oblivious to the dark workings that surrounded and occupied it. The wind was very calm, and the storm clouds lied dormant overhead. Such a twisted knot of fear and anxiety lay deep in her stomach as she prepared her voice. She opened her mouth, but no words came out at first. She sank backwards a bit, but soon gathered herself and was ready to speak.

"Harbinger!" she bellowed loudly toward the towering library, "Come out here!"

Her own voice echoed throughout the soundscape she occupied, and the reverb reinforced her doubts on her course of action. But it was far to late to turn back now. The front door of the library swung open suddenly, and the same dark portal she had witnessed on the day of the harbinger's first arriving appeared. And next, the horn half wrapped in bandages stuck out of the great portal, signaling the harbinger's arrival. He soon pulled himself out of the library and into the perpetual night. Twilight's heart pounded but she was resolved to stand her ground.

"Ah, Mended One." he said along with a polite bow, "To what to I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"I-I…" Twilight shook and cleared her head. All the words she had planned to say at this moment slipped quickly away from her thoughts. Soon, her mind focused on what he had called her, 'Mended One.'

"Mended One?" she questioned, orally and visibly, "My name is Twilight Sparkle, not Mended One…"

"And my name is not Harbinger." the bleak alicorn snapped, "But, since none here choose to remember my name, a harbinger is what I am, just as a mended one is what you are. Tell me, before you ask all you questions, what did your dear mentor tell you of the nature of the alicorn?"

Twilight shook off the question and refocused on her foray. "Yes, 'harbinger'. I've come to have a discussion with you. I've been studying the magic you use, the darkness you cast upon us. I've concluded that it seems to move on it's own, and it's will clashes with your desires…"

"Very good!" he responded callously, the corners near his covered mouth appearing to curve to a small smile, "You are every bit as bright as I thought you to be. You underestimate me, however. That combined with your inexperience with the intense nature of magic and of your own abilities as an alicorn is your weakness. You are not in a very good position, 'Twilight Sparkle'. It is not good in any game for your opponent to know your weakness."

Twilight's mind raced as a chord of fear struck her nervous system. She began to fear she had been wrong all this time. "How do you know all this? How do you know so much about us with so little contact?"

"I've been listening to you, even if you don't listen much to me." he snarled dryly, "Surely you've felt it yourself. Have you not heard the whispers in the minds of others? Have you never felt the solid area around you fade away as sound and etheric sight took over? You are an alicorn now, Mended One. We are not beings of this world, and we do not play by it's rules. You're beginning to think and see as we do."

"Alicorn…" Twilight thought out loud to herself as more and more questions circled around her mind. "How come we've never seen you before? I thought all of the alicorn were royalty, and you become one when you become royalty?"

He shook his head at her dismissively, as one condescends at a school-filly, "That is not our nature. You know much, but remarkable little Twilight Sparkle. But, I believe these are not the questions you risked your safety to ask me."

Twilight felt her shaking mind return to it's previous course, and she drew her dire question forth, "Are you good or evil?"

He seemed a little off put by the question, his exposed eye stiffening in thought. "I am neither. 'Good' and 'Evil' are simple tripes who's definitions cover so little ground. It is our perspectives and actions that defines us and bring us to clash. And on that you are correct. I work hard to keep the magic I hold under control because it only seeks to infect all it can. I am simply trying to make a point, and once that point has been made, all will return to normal and I will leave this place."

"What?" Twilight questioned with disbelief, "All this just to 'make a point'? You've outright attacked us! You put me and my friends thru a horrible tribulation!"

"Oh, really?" he responded quickly, "And have they not risen above it? Have you not seen them shine and become more than you thought they were? You will be stronger for this, all of you. It is my last gift to your kind, and I will pay very dearly for it."

"Is that your point? You're just trying to teach us a lesson?!"

"No. No, my point is much more horrid and selfish. It is an awful thing I am doing, Twilight Sparkle. No doubt about that."

A dim breeze flowed between the two, and the dark harbinger lifted his head to receive it as though he had felt no wind in ages. When it subsided, he refocused on the increasingly nervous Twilight Sparkle. "Run along, Twilight Sparkle. I do not hold the answers you seek. You must find them on your own."

"That isn't good enough!" Twilight shouted in a disappointed rage, "This isn't a game to me, harbinger! This is my home and my friends your treading upon, and I'm not going to run around in the dark for your cryptic entertainment! If you've got a point to make, then make it and get out of here!"

The harbinger sneered, as if angered. "Very well." he said, coldly and vindictively.

And so, attune to the noises of thunder, he spread his decadent wings and lifted himself up into the air. Twilight Sparkle felt her seize and freeze up as she rose up with him. All color in his left eye faded away to an abysmal, leaking black that remained fixed on her as he tilted his head to the side. The sounds of wind and thunder faded into the background before becoming completely inaudible. A bleak, chitinous lightning bolt shot up form the harbinger's horn, filling the airspace with the rumbling sounds of eerie static and all manners of whispers and malevolence. Twilight's muscles stiffened in place to the point of terrible intensity as she felt herself begin to revolve with the harbinger revolving opposite of her so that he remain immediately across from her position.

His deep black eye remained fixed on her as she fought against a massive ache in her mind. She felt it worming and slithering it's way thru her thoughts and memories to the track of a terrible sound; A sound that felt like a harmony of chlorine rushing thru her ears, a bleak and empty symphony stretching it's melancholic strings across her body. All this stimuli intensified before drawing back, and as the harmony slowly and softly circled in her ears, she heard the white beast begin to chant.

"Rain…" he began, summoning a towering maelstrom to ensnare the pair in wind and flood, "Come down and fall forever…" His words were long and weary, like they took every scrap of energy to muster.

"Drain…" he continued, "…the dirt into the wasteland…" Twilight felt a powerful sting in her mind, and felt that all hope she clung to spiraled and faded to darkness.

"Pray…" he chanted, his voice appearing to part. His face and form remain as still locked as Twilight felt, "…for sound to quiet the howling…" A great gale circled Twilight's ears and head. She struggled, trying desperately for conjure words and motion. She did not succeed.

"Kneel…" he moaned, voice akin to a hollow whisper. His words poured into the periwinkle pony's background thoughts, circling and taunting her with her greatest of fears. "...to fade the day's corrosion..."

"Crawl…" he sputtered, his dark eye widening. Horrific whispers entered Twilight's mind. "…depart onto perdition." Twilight began to weep for the future, the great and terrible unknowable future.

"Gray…" he whispered, his words sounding closer despite his lack of actual movement, "…upon the bruise within you…" Twilight felt sick to her stomach, recalling that bruise - the one upon her soul. He knew that which chilled her to the bone marrow and had found the words to weaponize it. She feared the future above all else, and the terrible power it bore. No teaching, no knowledge could prepare one for that unknowable future and the inevitable darkness we all march toward.

And just then, his eye widened so and his voice grew in volume and ferocity, "Feel ashamed to break!" he called. Twilight felt and saw the sounds and sights sink away before her, and slowly only the harbinger remained. "Feel afraid to wait forever…"

And she felt that fear, the fear of waiting until the future was done with her. The fear poured like a harmony of toxins upon her mind. The harbinger faded into a deep black abyss, and Twilight looked down at her hooves as they grew pale and dark. She had underestimated her opponent greatly, and she had been infected. Soon, she fell into the same bleak darkness that had claimed the minds of so many others.

If you would like to listen to the song 'Harmony Chlorine' that I created for this chapter, please use the link below:

watch?v=h2U6QUv4E5w

I also plan on releasing an original song for the final chapter of Rise of Ponietheus later on, so stay tuned!


	9. Chapter 9: The Deluge

"What do you mean, 'Twilight just walked out'?!" Rainbow Dash hollered as Zecora told her the news. Pinkie Pie moved between the to and faced Zecora quickly, "Did she say what she was going to go do?" she asked.

"She said she had a theory to test. Her intentions, I don't know the rest." Zecora responded, voice and motion wrapped in worry.

"A theory? Twilight wouldn't just run out the door for a 'theory'. She's much more prudent than that!" Rarity piped in, moving into the foreground of the hallway.

"Had she told any of you of her thoughts? To me, she did not…" Zeora asked.

"Nothing other than how she thought the harbinger wasn't in direct control of his dark magic…" Pinkie Pie responded, quickly recalling earlier conversations with the missing princess, "…Oh no! You don't think she went to go talk to him, do you?"

"'Walk up and talk to him'…" Rarity whispered to herself in a sudden realization, voice colored in panic.

"What did you say?" Pinkie Pie whipped around to face Rarity, having detected her mumble under her breath. Rarity stepped back a little, surprised by Pinkie Pie's sudden vocalism and they way she stared at her.

"…Uh…um…" Rarity stuttered, words escaping her mind, "This morning…er, or rather when we woke up last, Twilight and I talked… I think I reinforced an idea in her head. I said we should try to understand the harbinger, maybe even talk to him…"

Rainbow Dash abruptly pushed passed Rarity and marched towards the door leading into the large conference room, "Enough talk! If Twilight's out there, then I'm going out to get her!"

"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Pinkie Pie called, rushing after her.

And with a dampening crackle, lightning struck the upside of the roof, fracturing the structure and splitting the ceiling open. The scaffolding and supportive planks splintered by the incoming blast crashed down onto the floor and tables beneath near the entrance to the hallway the triage were emerging from. The harbinger appeared above them summoning a gust to pry the schism in the structure open further. As he worked, more debris crashed down upon them, separating the three from each other. Each acted on instinct, moving away from dangers and scattering as the rest of the frightened occupants of the hallway did. With a sufficient entree way, the harbinger shot a beam of accursed magic up into the sky, and large black hailstones proceed to stream from the skyline. They bombarded the compound, collapsing down on item and pony alike. Those unfortunate enough to get caught in the blasts became infected almost immediately. The harbinger pulled away after this, as if ashamed.

Rainbow Dash pressed her hooves down into the shaking floor as she worked thru the pain in her shoulder to jump start her wings. With a slight, but well controlled cry of agony, she pushed herself up from the ground and buzzed around the decaying complex before locating Pinkie Pie. The pink pony pushed her way thru the rubble towards her saddleback, and had it well secured upon herself as Rainbow Dash swooped her up and flew up and out thru the roof. The clouds above now sat black as pitch as they rumbled and shook above. Large masses of darkness trickled down in small droves, like the fragments of a great meteor shower. Rainbow Dash struggled to dodge the obstacles, and let out several strained cries as she applied more and more stress onto her injury. She had Pinkie Pie by the armpits, and maintained the resolve to grasp her firmly.

"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie shouted amongst the sounds of wind and impact, "What about Rarity and the ponies back there?!"

A large black meteorite whipped by them, with Rainbow Dash barely dodging. The black mass attached to the struggling pony's side began to pulsate.

"There's nothing we can do, Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash shouted back in a quite, cold response. "I'm on borrowed time now myself, so all I care about is getting you beyond this storm. I'll travel with you as far as I can, but the rest will be up to you…"

Just then, the dark harbinger emerged from the dim clouds above, rushing down like a wave in front of them. Using his great wings, he sent a mighty burst of wind to shake the battered pair. Rainbow Dash fell victim to the attack easily, and felt Pinkie Pie slip from her hooves as she crashed thru the window of a nearby building. She landed hard upon the wooden floor, rolling down the room upon her uninjured left shoulder. She grunted as she conjured the resolve to push herself upward. "Pinkie!" she cried out, her mind shifting quickly to worry as she moved back towards the desolated window. "Pinkie Pie, I'm coming!"

Her voice grew more and more weary, and she felt herself get heavier. She collapsed down into the cold wooden floor, still pushing herself towards the grey window with her left leg. She whimpered as the sounds of wind and rain faded away, and her view of the room and skybox before her lifted back and gave way to a bleak, dark void. "No, no, no…" she whimpered to herself, curling up in pain and worry on the floor, "Not me… not yet!"

The weight of the bleak emptiness pressed down on her, and she resolved to angered sobs and frustrated flurries of motion. There was no light, no sound to greet her. "No, no, NO!" She screamed in her crumpled state to herself repeatedly, snarling and shaking with rage.

And she heard a voice in the midst of the bleak darkness and the sounds of her flails and curses. That voice sauntered down upon her with a tone saturated with such desolation, despair and disappointment:

"Things didn't go according to plan again, did they Rainbow Dash?" it said, "You take action when others won't, but it never goes the way you envisioned it in your head, does it? It always seems to slip out of your hooves, just when you think you've almost got it. Look at yourself, Rainbow Dash. A big shot wannabe who's nothing but a weather manager in little old Ponyville. But you're the fastest flyer in all of Equestria, right? Well, if you're so good, they why aren't you where you want to be? Why hasn't it happened yet? Why aren't you the famous flyer you like to think you are? You know the answer to that. You ought to just accept what you really are Rainbow Dash - a failure."

Rainbow Dash sobbed in vindication, crushed within the depth of the bleak emptiness and distraught revelation trickled down upon her. There, in that dark place, all sound and pleasant thought drifted away as her angry tears dripped down her battered face and settled harshly within the nothingness.

Pinkie Pie awoke suddenly upon the ground. Her head was in pain, and her vision blurred and spun as she struggled to gather her bounds and focus in on her surroundings. The town around her was more calm and quiet than it had been before she lost consciousness, but was wrapped in a dreary touch of foreboding. The massive black hailstones had subsided, and she stood alone in the coldly light street.

"Rainbow Dash?" she called out into the night before her. Rainbow Dash did not answer.

Spying a shattered window in the building behind her, Pinkie Pie turned and quickly made her way inside. Upon entering the small home, she almost immediately herd drown out thumping from the floor above her. The sound was both dissolute and desperate, like the feeble attempts to drag one's injured body towards safety and salvation. Pinkie Pie did not hesitate to hurry upstairs towards the eerie source of the noise. As she approached the door the the room that contained it, the noise stopped.

She did not hesitate to hurry into the next room. "Dashie?!" she called out starkly.

Before her, amidst debris and broken glass, Rainbow Dash lay still and stern, peering up at her with hollow, infected eyes like she was a beast or predator. Pinkie Pie shuttered at the sight, but moved in closer regardless. "…Dashie?"

Rainbow Dash scurried away from her quickly as she drew closer, propping herself up by one of the beds in the room. She was clearly injured, her exposed left shoulder mildly scrapped and cut. Yet she masked her pain with fierce eye contact, like a feral beast in the wild. Pinkie Pie was unnerved, but moved closer.

"Stay away, cretin!" the dim, wounded pony shouted. Her words were bitter and foreign. "Get away from me!" She tried to flare her wings in defensive showmanship, but clearly strained. They barely lifted past her shoulders.

"Dashie…" Pinkie Pie was filled with a foreboding, subtly well aware of the futility of her words. "Dashie, it's okay. You don't have to be afraid. It's me - Pinkie Pie! Your friend!"

Rainbow Dash showed no reaction to her soft words, and made all efforts to pull away from her. "Don't you remember me?" Pinkie quietly asked.

"Begone! I have nothing to offer you. Leave me alone, unaffiliated." Rainbow Dash cried in a raspy terror. She appeared more and more depraved and horrified, desperately crawling away from her unsettled pink friend. Pinkie Pie sunk back towards the door, feeling a slight rush of tears coming to her eyes. "Rainbow Dash… Don't do this! Not you too…"

"I said go away, strange one! Leave this place!" Rainbow Dash shouted, voice on the precipice of great terror and self depravity. She slunk back into a corner by the shattered window, drawing away from Pinkie's sight.

Pinkie Pie felt a despairing whimper escape her lips before bottling all emotion and preceding downstairs and out of the building. She collapsed down into the curb by the street, slouching down into herself as her mind rushed to process the various enfeebling stimuli and disparage she felt. There, in that place, she felt so alone. Such a feeling always caused debilitation in her head, forcefully usurping and replacing the fragments of logos for rushes of strong emotion.

Yet, from there, she drew from the withered well of determination that had been formed by the recent events. She conjured what strength she could from the fact that, despite everything, she'd made it this far. She suppressed all the negative emotion stirring in her chest, and resolved to press on. Suddenly, as she picked herself up from the curb, the foul beating of the wings belonging to the accursed harbinger of darkness flickered above her.

She gazed up at him, and in a moment of bubbling rage, exclaimed, "You big jerk! This is all your fault!"

She then heard, as it were, the noise of laughter above. The harbinger quickly changed course, and swooped down. He landed harshly upon the ground before her.

"Strong words there, little one. I dare say, my feelings are quite ravaged." he sputtered in a condescending, acerbic tone. Yet, despite his hostile disposition, his stance and motions conveyed an odd sadness and disappoint. Pinkie Pie couldn't help but feel a modicum of pity for the creature, even thru all her anger.

"My name is Pinkie Pie!" she shouted back at him, "The very least you could do is remember our names!"

"Oh, forgive my trespasses, 'Pinkie Pie'," he responded, the sardonic tone withstanding, "How awful it must be to never be addressed or associated with your true name."

Then, before she could reacted, his pale left eye went dark. Pinkie Pie's thoughts and words seized up as she was met with a sharp headache. The pain wormed around in her head, and crawled over experiences and memories. Pinkie Pie yelped, and squeezed her eyes shut. "Stop it!" she demanded.

He withdrew from the magic suddenly, and the pain stopped. He pulled away from her with an odd, juxtaposed look of sympathetic terror - like he had stumbled across an old, familiar memory associated with a soft, subtle and considerate emotion hardship. He looked down upon her with scorn no more, but instead peered at her from a level. Words had escaped him, and he stumbled backwards.

Pinkie Pie breathed heavily in fatigue and anger, "Is…is that…all you got?" she taunted tiresomely. He did not respond, but instead pulled away further. Pinkie Pie panted as she regained her composure, and stood baffled at his new wave of strange behavior. His eye moved about in a calculation, one infused with subjective truths and emotions. "We're the same…" he whispered to himself, just outside of her capacity of hearing.

"What are you… saying?" she asked loudly, still catching her breath. She dipped her head down in a challenge, but he did not match it. Instead, he bowed as one does to a respectable foe or imposing victor. "If you're going to fight me, then do it!"

"I shall no more raise my horn against you, cloven one." the dim beast muttered, voice raspy and arduous, "Such an act would be akin to the needless slaughter of a lamb, or a brother. Don't worry. I shall leave this place soon. My crop will be reaped, and I shall be gone..."

"What?" she shouted back, "After all this, you're just going to walk off? You can't just leave us all in a state like this. It isn't right… This isn't right! It's not how the story's supposed to end!"

"Most stories don't end like they should, Pinkie Pie." His words were softer now, and he seemed very shaken, "Mine's a perfect example, if any of you ever care to remember it. No… but you will all remember me for this. If I'm this 'dark harbinger' now, then so be it. And your fears have been realized, no magic will change that. You're truly alone now… Just like me. Don't become like me, Pinkie Pie..."

He turned away slowly, his motions like that of a being that had come to accept his failures. He lifted himself up to the skies and flew off in the direction of the library. The thunder and muck in the skyline seemed to subside, and the clouds appeared to begin to slowly disperse. But the bleak darkness of the clouds, the skies and the town remained.

Pinkie Pie shuttered, "…Alone?"

Those words drifter down deep into her gut. The shock soon settled around her as the town sunk back into silence, as though it had never been disturbed at all. The harbinger was far off in the distance now, no longer within the bounds of Pinkie Pie's sight or mind. New stimuli and thoughts flooded into her mind like the foreboding first leak spewing from the cusp of a great dam. Words of fear and panic fluttered into her mind as she began to make her way back towards the town hall. Her pace quickened more and more as she drew closer.

The hall stood demoralized and broken with it's roof and top floor exposed and in disarray. The great wooden doors were cast asunder, laying defeated in the cold, dank mud surrounding the building. As she approached, she witness dim figures laying broken in the lawn, overcome with the infection that had ransacked the area. They trembled in their rain coats, shaking in the dirt before her. She attempted to call out to some, but the thralls lay still and silent. Her heart continued to thump as she approached the large vacant doorway leading into the large building.

Poking her head inside, she was greet with nothing but the shivering choir of absolute silence. The hallway leading up to the large conference room ahead remained dark and oblique. Small strains of light struggled to shove their way into the great chamber, softly illuminating the overturned chairs, tables and supplies as they lay torn and scattered. The hall was very quiet, a stark contrast to the terrible noises that had flooded the place earlier.

Then, from amidst the debris, Pinkie Pie heard a moan; Not one of physical pain, but the call of great vexation. She rushed over to it's source, and used all within her to cast aside bits of plank and scaffolding that covered the being lying under them. There, crumpled before her among the rubble, was Rarity. Apart for a few scrapes and bruises, the alabaster pony did not appear to be critically injured. She was, however, as dim and grey as Spike had been when they had brought him to this place.

"Rarity…" she whispered, clearing out a path in what remained of the debris, "Are you alright?"

She did not respond and remained curled and sobbing in the fetal position. Her royal purple hair had lost it's firmness and was wrapped across her face. Pinkie Pie motioned to brushed it away, but pulled her hand back at the icy touch of Rarity's skin. She was so very cold and, apart from small whimpers, so very quiet.

Pinkie Pie inhaled quickly and the trembling of her throat reflected in the soft noise of air entering her body. "I'm so sorry we left you here…" she whispered, her eyes saddened by the obvious futility of her apology, "Rainbow Dash and I… we fell back upon gut instinct… survivalism and all that. It's scary how in a tight spot, your body can just… override your heart and mind, and make you forget…"

Rarity's movements were unaffected by Pinkie's words. A tear forced it's way onto the pink pony's cheek and ran down her head before releasing and dripping down to the floor. "I shouldn't make excuses…" Pinkie Pie continued, holding back tears, "No, we left you here. I… left you here and that was wrong. And I'm… so sorry. And now here I am, I'm the last one. It shouldn't be me… It should be you and Twilight and Applejack…. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Spike… You can all handle this… better than me. I-I've never been very good at… being by myself."

Her attention was shifted onto the surrounding room. Dim figures, all in raincoats, appeared from the corners and from beneath the debris. They began to march mindlessly towards the door, fulfilling the apparent thrall-like role of the second stage of the harbinger's magic. Rarity herself quit her sobbing and picked herself up, pushing past Pinkie Pie to join them. Pinkie Pie sobbed herself, watching her join the husks of Fluttershy and Zecora as they marched out of the building. Only Spike remained in that big empty room. He still flickered, despite everything.

Pinkie Pie sat in place, staring at the extraneous motions of Spike as he lay tucked under a table. Only the sound of her own breathing filled the corners of the decimated hallway, and as the indulgent self pity subsided, she was left with a curious thought: Whatever had happened to Twilight Sparkle?

She emerged from the battered town hall into the barren atmosphere a short time later. Her mind was abuzz with thoughts concerning the fate of Twilight Sparkle. The harbinger had accused her of being the last pony in town, but Twilight was now of the alicorn. Luna had avoided the machinations of the harbinger long enough, and Pinkie sunk all her hopes into the unlikelihood of Twilight's similar immunity.

Oddly enough, there in the empty streets, a periwinkle figure appeared mindlessly wandering about on a street perpendicular to the one Pinkie stood upon. Her eyes retained their pupils and color, but were empty all the same. The figure had a blank look about her face, one that knew nor cared for any wonder.

"Twilight Sparkle?!" Pinkie Pie shouted down thru the fog at the figure. She stopped in acknowledgement and tilted her head to the side, towards Pinkie. Her eyes were glossed over with cataracts, but she appeared to not be blinded by them. She glanced down at her pink friend, but displayed no emotion before continuing on.

"Twilight! Wait!" she screamed before running down the street after her. Twilight's cold stride did not quicken nor hinder. It was as if Pinkie's presence bore no weight or consequence. She had passed beyond a fork and was headed in an eastern direction. Pinkie Pie halted at the cross between the two streets, and anxiously gazed at her alicorn friend as she moved away. "Look at me, Twilight!" she commanded, voice wavering.

Twilight Sparkle stopped then, and turned slowly and sullenly to face Pinkie Pie. Her eyes remained blank, finding no joy or wonder in anything. Her brittle, grey from remained stiff and still. "What is it that you want?" she asked coldly.

Pinkie Pie whimpered in correlation with the emotion surging in her chest. "Don't you know me?!" she pleaded, voice hindering on desperation, "I'm me! It's Pinkie Pie!"

Twilight's weak eyes fixated on her for a small amount of time, and without hesitation or emotion she coldly stated, "No. You are as unknown to me as the terrible realms among the sea and stars…" And with that, she turned and left.

Pinkie Pie collapsed backwards in that place, among the sorrow and mud. The cobblestone beneath her trembling form sighed in sympathy, mimicking the cold desolation that filled her racing mind. Pinkie Pie could not speak as her eyes spilled to the shock that poured down on her soul. Twilight's shady form turned away from her quickly and quietly before sauntering back into the center of the scorched, dry town. Pinkie Pie sat in place, whimpering. Soon in that place, she released terrible moans and cries of emotion pain. Her attempts to breathe thru her burdens failed, and tears spilled from her eyes and crashed down upon the pale grey stone path below.

She struggled to pick herself up. Her thoughts were quickly fluttered and lost to noise within the still silence of the surrounding town. The bleak nothing that had consumed her home echoed the abandonment she felt rippling from the actions and words of her friends. She could not lift herself up from the need for cries of peril and sadness. She collect what remained of herself and stitched her psyche together with the will to get out, to get anywhere away from here. She began to blindly march south.

And she wept as she wondered beyond the borders of town. She wept for the silence forever laid upon the land she loved. She wept for the broken who sit bitter and broken in the ruinous mud that had bestowed the land. But, moreover, she wept for herself. She felt cold, as if caught in a tragic rush on underwater while spitting and clawing desperately at the light up from the underground. And that bitterness crept in deep and settled down in the valleys in her heart as she walked. The battered fragments of nature that had endured the wind and rain seemed to wane as she moved past them, out towards Sweet Apple Acres. They seemed to moan and bear down, weakened by the surges of emotion trickling thru their brittle leaves as Pinkie Pie moved past them.

Her tears only fed more as she moved, and such a weight pressed down upon her back. Her legs trembled and creaked. Her eyes festered and blinked. Her hair went flat. A horrid pain washed thru her, one she had known and feared her whole life thru but could never identify. Such was not the crushing dread of being alone, but a pain that transcended that by diving every deeper. The fracture in her mind rushed on thru the layers of joyous veneer down to a deep temple at her very core. She was shaken to her very core.

Yet, in her path she stopped as she approached the borderlines of the agrarian state where the legions of infected stood on guard. Hearing her weeping, they turned and stared with hollow eyes, scanning her as she stood before them. But they did not engage. They merely watched her as she began to move past them out beyond into the great deserts in the south. They watched as if she was kin or a lost brother who started upon a grim pilgrimage to ruin. Pinkie Pie slumped down as she continued out past the infected sentinels. Bitter, harsh words flooded into her head, but she harbored no energy to state them. She shuttered as she felt the hollowness in their eyes reflect deep down in her chest.

The desert lay before her deep and dark, like a mirror for the shattered wasteland in her head. The truths of her folly and her weakness - that of complete dependance on reassurance and splendor - crashed down into her worn, fragile head. Her tears subsided and gave way to bitter ventilation as she felt her lungs and heart pick up and flutter. Her hooves went numb as her steps further out into that desert became more harsh and forceful. She pulled herself to a stop for a moment to release a curtailing, raspy shriek that echoed about the landscape as it drew from her lips. She stood there in that warm, arid place in a great hate and terrible anger. All that she had built and stood upon had been set upon fragile pillars of salt and sand - the life she had constructed and used as emotional strength had crumbled away and she trembled so at the thought of what lie before her; A great gaping nothing that stood in contrast to all she had known and loved.

Thoughts rushed into her head, bursting like a horrid deluge thru the dams she had constructed inside to keep such parts at bay. The anger settled, like the sulfur fallout of an eruption. As the pieces fell, the anger got colder, and colder. Pinkie Pie felt a layer of defeat at the base of all the bitterness. She continued to walk with eyes twitching and legs stiff. Never before had she felt such a negative emotion enrapture her entire being - body, heart and mind. It coursed thru her like a plague, a disease more horrid then the worst machinations the dark harbinger could conjure. Her hair ran so flat.

"You know everything about everypony, Pinkie Pie." she thought, "You've learned and remembered what makes them laugh, cry or get scared, and you can always cheer them up. But where are they now that you need cheering up? What do all the other ponies know about you? Do you think they took time to remember all the things about you that you remember about them? Do they know what makes you laugh, cry or get scared? Of course, they don't. And now that you need them more then ever, they're gone. They're all gone. They forgot about you, Pinkie Pie. They didn't even know your name."

She cursed all she knew and could recall in her mind; that mind that remembered everything about everypony, but that everypony had forgotten. And as those thoughts, the regrets of the friends she'd made coupled with the crushing dread of being truly alone, her pallet grew darker and her heart grow colder. She felt like a dim flicker, like the hollow aftermath of a flash bulb or the discarded crumpled rapper of a dear treat. She felt like the trash scattered about a house after a grand party, and soon thoughts of the old legend she had read before, and her strange interest in it's tragic protagonist entered her worn mind. A recalled passaged approached her lips, and she whispered it desperately to herself:

"And in that place - the great city that grew dark and arid - Ponietheus wept for all he knew. He wept for the death of the old ways as it rained down upon him and he watched all he loved cross into where he could not follow. He sat and stared long into the unknowable future, and cataloged all he had wasted."

Pinkie Pie coughed, as if choking on the cruel irony imbued in the words of the legend as they reflected what she saw and felt. She stopped and looked all around her. The windy desolation of the desert surrounded her, and joined her in the mourning of all she knew. And the angered dissolved as she crumpled back down into the depths of melancholy, and she wept for the withering of love and joy within her - such a love she had once thought unconquerable and a love she had once hoped to be her absolution. The harbinger's words entered her mind once more: "I have come forth conquering, and to conquer." And he had conquered her to the dreary point of wreckage.

But then, as she passed over that hill, the thoughts stopped. The dry emptiness brewing within her froze as she looked and beheld the once vibrant beast Discord sitting crumpled and weary in the sand. There she stood, atop that hill, in a strange awe. That grave monster that she had once despised for threatening the weak fabric of happiness she had once clanged to sat drearily to himself down at the base of a hill in an empty desert, and that alone warmed the battered coldness with in her. She moved her way down towards him in her disbelief. He seemed strange, sitting there quite still and out of character. As she approached, she struggled to talk. "D-Discord?"

He turned himself towards her, a grim and grey look in his eyes. Yet, his face gave a quick flicker of joy at seeing her, "Hello, Pinkie Pie." he said quite solemnly and dryly.

And so the harsh bite of solitude and self perdition that had settled within Pinkie's chest and thoughts subsided for, in the bleak desert of all places, she was recalled and welcomed by a fellow outcast. She felt a soft bubble of reserved joy, and burst forth into a hug with the soon startled and grim villain sitting before her.

"Discord!" she cried, "You remember me!"

Discord remained reserved, stiffening and pulling back at the sudden and uncomfortable sign of rowdy affection. "Well, of course I remember you…" he sputtered dismissively, "It is hard for one to forget the bouncy pink pony partially responsible for confining one into stone. Harder still when that same pink pony is responsible for releasing one after months of confinement and expect one to be her very best friend. You're acting quite strangely, pink pony. And for you, that's saying much…"

Tears returned to Pinkie's tired eyes, but this time for relief and joy. She pulled away from her hug, and sniffled as she struggled to regain your composure. "What… why are you all the way out here? What happened to you?"

Discord grimaced at the question, and he face became painted with grave vindication. "That shadowy mass launched me far out here. I couldn't find my way back, so I stopped here to take a rest. This desert is truly dreadful, isn't it? I mean, there's hardly anything out here. There's no fun to be had at all. Curious thing though, this place looks so very familiar…"

"I'm so very sorry to hear that, Discord. Such awful things have been going on in the last few days, huh?" Pinkie Pie responded earnestly. She reveled in the social contact.

"Have they?" Discord grumbled with a quasi-disinterested tone, "I'm out of the loop, I suppose. I've been trapped out here for who knows how long. It's been the same boring thing over and over, like an endless cycle. I tell you, such a thing scares me more…"

Pinkie's eyes flickered. An idea of vast importance began to circle around her head, but it was distant and had not formed itself to words. As if instinctively, she reached into her saddle bag and pulled out another bright red balloon and worked all the air she could muster into it. Finishing her work, she tied the loop around it and handed it over towards the grumbling, grumpy Discord.

"Here, take this." she said softly, pushing the the balloon his direction, "Hopefully it will brighten up your bleak desert."

He took the balloon from her with a rare look of soft happiness. As he held it and looked at it, he began to snicker to himself. He then snapped his fingers rather sharply, and the balloon transformed instantly to a colorful cinderblock that crashed down into the undisturbed sands below with a powerful thud. Discord laughed at the spectacle, and snapped his fingers once again. The cinderblock changed again to a pink bowling pin that lifted itself up into the air before them like a rocket ship before exploding suddenly into an array of bright, vivid colors.

"Now there's some chaos, haha!" Discord said brightly between his chuckles. And in that moment, Pinkie Pie saw his complexion grow lighter and his somber disposition fade away. And that idea that had surfaced earlier solidified and struck her mind like a lightning bolt.

"Celestia have mercy…" she whisper to herself. It all clicked; the legend, the curses, the rain, the fear - everything. "How did I not see it before. It's so simple…"

Discord shifted his eyes her way before seising his laughter, visibly disappointed that she had not joined in the fun. "You know, for the 'element of laughter', you sure are a buzz kill today, Pinkie Pie." he muttered sarcastically. Pinkie paid little mind as the pieces fell into place in her head.

"Laughter. It's so simple!" she shouted eagerly to herself.

"Um, care to explain?" Discord asked.

"The darkness makes one's greatest fears come true. And I know enough about everypony to figure out their fears, and giving Discord his balloon broke his fear of bored and samey-ness." she spoke in quick succession to herself.

"Are you even talking to me?" Discord questioned, now perturbed and annoyed.

"So all I have to do is 'break' everypony's fears and they'll go back to normal!" Pinkie's voice grew in volume as she spoke, her eyes widening and her flat hair springing upward in eclectic places.

"Uh, 'scuse me? Pinkie? Recall I've been stuck out here for the past while, I don't know what's happening or what you're talking about?" Discord called out in grave annoyance, voice raising to match Pinkie's.

"The darkness!" Pinkie screamed with excitement, "It causes fear, so we just have to make them overcome that fear and the spell will be broken! Giggle at the ghosty and all that! Don't you see, Discord? If I can break my friends out of their fear spells, then we can use the elements of harmony against the dark harbinger and save the city!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Discord shouted, becoming increasingly aware of the futility of his statements, "I've literally been alone in the desert for this whole time."

"Let's go!" Pinkie Pie shouted, characteristically oblivious to Discord's words, "Let's get back there and finish this, Discord! I know what to do, I know how to break everypony out of their fears!"

Pinkie Pie bounced in place for a bit, before turning herself around and making off towards Ponyville. She didn't even check to see if Discord was following.

Discord sat by himself for a bit, his face red with confusion. "Right, well…" he said to himself, "It's not like I have much choice in the matter here. I mean it's blindly follow the insane pink pony or sit in the desert for all eternity, so I guess my choice is already made. Right. Off we go."

He quickly picked himself up and pressed on after Pinkie Pie, who had already crossed the hill and began back towards the dark, stormy precipice of Ponyville and it's surrounding farmland. Thunder crackled in the distance as the two grew every closer towards the town. The grim landscape sighed, and paved way for their return and an end to the dark days that had befallen Equestria and cursed the future.


	10. Chapter 10: Amelioration

The moon lingered in it's fixed position tucked behind the abysmal yet waning storm clouds that blanketed the vast airspaces over the brittle, worn town below. An arid sense of sullen weariness echoed within the nature about the settlement, tired of perpetual night and the dark magic that had usurped the calm, pleasant order to the workings of the world. Nature watched and waited for the return of Pinkie Pie, one who had not fallen victim to the bleak workings of the harbinger. Creatures and animals of all sorts were nestled safe in their homes and burrows, but their eyes and minds remained focused over towards the horror that had befallen the sleepy town of Ponyville. But they all felt a calling from something more, and watched tirelessly for the opportune moment to fulfill their role in events. It had been four grim days since the plague latched itself to the beings of the town, who stood diligently at the borders as watchmen and dogs, and the forces of the world and on high had spend four days spinning and gathering patiently. They had awaited this moment and for the time in which events spiraled towards resolution.

Pinkie Pie and Discord occupied a small hill outside the guarded borders of town, watching. Discord peaked at the bleak sentries surrounding the sorry town beyond. They were large in number and stood not ten feet from each other, all uniformly facing outwards. He quivered a bit in sheer uncertainty and peered over at Pinkie Pie, who stood with significantly more gusto.

"Yeah… I hate to be 'that guy' here, but what exactly is your plan? What's the plan?" he asked in an over enunciated and condescending manner.

"We have to get to the town hall!" Pinkie Pie whispered back with all her attention fixed on the town ahead. "Spike's in there… And he's not very infected. He doesn't behave like the others do. I think I can break him out like I did you!"

Discord shrugged with a bit of uncharacteristic hesitation. "Once again, hate being 'that guy', but I wasn't really 'infected', as you say, I was just bored in the desert. That's a real fatal flaw in your plan. Like an elephant-in-the-room size flaw in your otherwise brilliant and completely feasible plan…"

His dark sarcasm washed over Pinkie with little resistance or mind. "Well, then we're testing a… a… oh, what's that science-y word Twilight always uses… A hippopotamus! No…. hypo-noose." she responded unoccludedly and with spunk. "Yeah, we're testing a hypo-noose!"

"An 'hypothesis'?!" he retorted in disbelief, "You're having us waltz into happy-go-lucky infected zombie land for a 'hypothesis'?"

"Have a bit of faith!" Pinkie Pie snapped, whipping her head towards him, "It'll work, I just know it! I feel it in my gut!"

"Great, okay…" Discord sputtered exhaustedly, collapse back into the grass upon the hill, "I mean, if worse things come to pass I'll just be stuck out in the desert again. Well great, what the heck, I suppose. Let's do it!" He popped back up and nestled down beside Pinkie Pie as she surveyed. "So… how are we getting in?"

Pinkie Pie pressed her hoof into her chin for the briefest of moments. Then, with the flash of a light bulb inside her skull, she dug deep into her saddlebag and pulled out a balloon and a few scraps of paper.

To the shock of the bleak sentries who stood as statues before the borders of the town, a bright red hot air balloon suddenly peaked up over the rocky ridges to the south. It's bright and saturated colors defaced the dark skies as it sailed above them swiftly and silently. Breaking ranks, a few of the infected pegasi quickly took flight and viciously assaulted the floating monument, biting, ripping and slashing all manner of holes and ruptures into it's dome structure. Air bellowed out as the drove the scarlet beast down into a nearby hillside.

The rest stood fast, and did not adjust themselves to fill the significant holes in their guarding structure. And so, they failed to spot the hooded figures that passed thru their ranks, sneaking deep into the grim territory beneath the stormy skies above. Pinkie Pie and Discord turned and watched their bright red distraction crumple into itself and crash down soundlessly and effortlessly into the distance. However, they had no anticipated the return of the pegasi that had assaulted the balloon, for soon - in that very moment - the returning raiders descended upon them like wild fire. Discord held fast, and magically hurled nearby rocks and debris towards the invaders, but their numbers increased as they flocked upon the two like ants upon a weakened feast, kicking and pecking all the while. The two did all they could to stay together and fend off the attackers, but were simply overwhelmed in a short time.

But then, eagles, vultures and creatures with all manner of talons swooped in from the skies above, sending the wings and bodies of the fiendish infected harpies to the ground. The dirt and grass parted as gophers, mice and all emerge from the underground to bind the infected, to keep them still and quiet. Pinkie Pie and Discord, who gathered together battered, baffled yet joyous, stood amazed at nature's uprising. Beasts, wolves and bears came from the sidelines and down from the hills into the field. Together, as if summoned by nature herself, the animals rounded and gathered the infected, pinning them down and binding them in moss, dirt and vine. They repeatedly motioned for the two to continue and press on into the town, and they did not waste the opportunity.

Pulling away from the fray, the town pushed their way into the fractured town, navigating it's twisted streets and debris. The buildings around them seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and the ravaged town relaxed a little. Homes and shops stood taller, and the clouds above lightened ever-so-slightly like the cracks of a barrier giving way to a powerful force behind it. Pinkie Pie found herself running with such a purpose thru the memorized streets, winding and turning, that all the stimuli - the sights and sounds - of the town faded into the muffled background. She could hear the cracks and sparks of wires and lanterns, as well as the acerbic quips of disapproval from Discord behind her, but none of it registered within her. She was so focused, more focused than she had ever been before, and thrilled.

After several minutes of nonstop motion, Pinkie Pie and Discord arrived at the battered town hall, barely standing after the assault that had occurred earlier. Pinkie Pie stopped in her tracks, peering at the wreck with withered, tired eyes that - somehow - became filled with determination and gusto. Between dreary, tired pants and what felt like absurd amounts of coursing adrenaline, she felt such a call to press forward, like she was being summoned.

"Stopped? We stopped! Why did we stop?" Discord quipped in a hasty manner. He had spoken often throughout the long run here, dispute how Sisyphean his attempts at conversation had been. To his utter lack of surprise, Pinkie Pie brushed off the questions and raced into the building. Discord was quick to follow, albeit filled with the mumbles and grumbles or both discontent and subtle regret.

The conference room was quiet now, and empty. It's upturned tables and piles of rock, rubble and concrete made the area akin to a tomb or an ancient ruin. Apart from Pinkie Pie's panting, the room created almost no audible noise - no crumbling or ticking nor sounds of water or residence. Silence is the most unsettling sound of all, and it served no other purpose there then to reinforce the despairing acts that had taken place there. Discord stopped at the entrance to the hall, despite the fact that Pinkie Pie and rushed in, and stood in unprecedented, uncharacteristic awe. He was taken aback by the sheer, pointless destruction and the apparent malice behind it. "What a shock…" he thought aloud in a soft whisper to himself, "…never thought I'd be this effected by pointlessness… That's kind of my department…" He felt strangely sad for a moment, then protective, and he had no idea why.

He sat back in his thoughts as Pinkie Pie was quick to pick thru the rubble that lie upon a specific table. She diligently cleared the way, and stuck her head deep down into the darkness underneath. She had grabbed Spike's tail with her teeth - very harshly, she'd admit - and drug the sleepy dragon out from his respite under that table and into the dim moonlit room. She sat back suddenly, as if stumped. Discord moved to her side, and peered down at the bleak little specimen.

"So… now what?" he asked, all manners of bitter sarcasm cast aside, "You came all the way out here… what's the plan?"

"Hmmm…" Pinkie Pie rubbed her hoof on her chin, completely and utterly undiscouraged. "I have no idea. I admit I didn't think about what I'd do when I got here. I knew what I was going to do before here and after here, but not when I was here-here." She sat puzzled for a bit, her left eye twitching in calculation, extrapolation and all other manners of Pinkie Pie level reasoning.

Discord released a quick sigh of disappointment. Although he had anticipated - and frankly expected - this journey to fail completely, he could not help but be saddened and discouraged. He began to move about the fractured facility, mumbling to himself, but keeping a close watch on the antics of Pinkie Pie as she sat in her calculation.

Pinkie's mind buzzed with admirable gusto. 'What does Spike fear?' she thought, 'Growing up? He did run off to join some dragons once… No, that's not fear, that's dissatisfaction…. Hmmm… What happened when he turned? He was alone with Twilight Sparkle while the rest of us went to talk to scary ghost fillies… the Twilight admitted to falling asleep… and he was alone. Is he scared of being alone? No, that's no fun. That's my thing, I guess. And he was fine with being alone when we went to Cadance's wedding…. Hmm… he was by himself and he wrote that paper… the paper!'

What had happened to that paper? Nopony had even read it, really. Pinkie Pie thought back. Nopony had grabbed it - they were attacked. There was no time to grab it. But she could see it, in her head. She had glanced at it when they entered the room - it was scribbled and nonsensical. No, but there were a few words, or at least scraps of words, she had made out. She could see them in her head, but couldn't see them just yet. 'A…. a-something…' she thought, ' aban….. left behind….abandoned… abandonment!'

"Spike fears abandonment!" she shouted vibrantly. The sudden sound scared Discord ever-so-slightly, as he jump in place.

"What are you on about?!" he asked in an intensified, but significantly softer voice.

"Twilight was alone with Spike…'alone with Spike' - that's contradictory… anyway, Twilight was alone with Spike but then Princess Luna made her fall asleep so they could talk, and Spike felt abandoned 'cuz he was left behind and alone! That's how it kicked it!" Pinkie Pie sputter in short, inundated words teaming with celerity, "No, but he was aware it was kicking in. He wasn't fully afraid, that's why he's different - not fully infected, I mean. He was aware it was happening… so the darkness performed a botched operation. It rushed things… So my hypo-noose is that if we can make Spike unafraid again, he'll snap out of it! His subconscious will fight back and he won't be infected anymore!"

Discord was visibly confused by her rapid explanation, but she payed him little mind. She was talking to herself, mostly. She turned to Spike then, his form still flickering, and hollered, "Spike! Spike, it's okay! You're haven't been abandoned! We're all here with you!"

She stared at him intently, but nothing happened. Discord's eyes shifted between the two, but his face drew downwards, "Once again, hate being 'that guy'… but I don't think it's working…"

Pinkie Pie stared a bit longer, her Pinkie-specific scientific gaze withstanding. Without any feel of bitterness or scorn, her head shifted back into her downward-staring thought-mode.

"No, no, no…" she said out loud, voice monotone with calculation, "My words won't carry the weight. Action's speak louder than words, perhaps? No, it can't be me… Twilight! or Rarity! He likes them best… It's all in the emotion, who or what will make Spike feel un-abandoned…. We need Twilight or Rarity! …oh, but how do we un-infect them?"

It was cold in that room, suddenly, and both their eyes were soon drawn upwards to the skyline. Thru cracks in the legions of dried storm clouds, the perennial moon shimmering dimly above began to move eastward, off all directions. Pinkie Pie's eyes widened at the sight. "Princess Luna!…" she murmured to herself. Soon, however, she gave a shout, "Discord! What's east of here?"

Discord turned in his usually sardonic manner and quipped, "Oh, I don't know, dearie. Let me pull out my limited edition Equestra map I keep with me at all times! You're the eidetic one here, why don't you know?"

"We have to head eastward! It's a sign from Princess Luna, I know it!" Pinkie Pie shouted. And with that, she raced for the exit as if no fatigue or weariness moved within her at all. And alas, with a sigh, Discord began to follow. He so disdained being led about like a hound on a leash, at the mercy of Pinkie's 'plans' and scientific theories. He followed her out into the cold, still night. She stood just outside of the door, as if she was waiting for him, but her whole figure pointed eastward and up at the large structure nestled gently into the mountains thereof.

"Canterlot!" she exclaimed as he drew near. "Luna's in Canterlot! Golly, only Rarity's been up there. It was the first place to get hit, and I guess also the first place ponies got infected. Rarity had said it was completely deserted when she got there."

"What do you suppose lovely Luna is doing in that dead place, Professor?" Discord asked in a dry monotone, despite the fact that his wondered gaze fixated on the monument in the distance to the same degree as the ordained Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie's eyes drifted off in thought for a moment and the corners of her mouth tightened. Soon her stare fell back upon the distant Canterlot, and she spoke in a strange somber tone, "Celestia. Her sister. She's with her sister."

It had been many hours since the harbinger's brief, yet informative, conversation with meek little Pinkie Pie in the streets of the battered town. Luna had long since been released, unharmed and ready to restore order after his departure, and the solemn figure stood upon the balcony of the library. He had exhausted it's contours, acquired what brief knowledge he could have, and stood in reflection.

Such humble scripture could not compare to the vast lifeless libraries of Hailcryon - his homeland - and the old knowledge logged away. But he did not stand scowling or dissatisfied with the face of a grim tutor, but was sincerely impressed with the work of the cloven ones, and the knowledge they had gathered and cataloged. This small town, barely a 20th of the size of his mighty ruined city, held a vast array of thoughts and catalogs - of words and opinions. He briefly thought of immortality as he stood out there with the wind. He was once so unfamiliar with the concept - until he became aquatinted with it's antithesis, of course - yet now, in that little place, his definition of the word evolved.

These cloven beings, despite their tangent with the inevitable, had discovered a way to be preserved forever. Words, thoughts and names remained unabridged in mere scribbles and shapes long after the minds that had once housed them faded into the ether. He stood puzzled, that bleak creature. Never before, in all the time he had wasted in that fragile land, had he thought of writing. The alicorns did not write nor catalog any events or ideas. They were all remembered and past down from generation to generation. That proved an ineffective method, he thought, for the elders that had been lost for thousands of years could not record their vast experiences. All that knowledge was lost with them.

What a shame, he thought, to lose all those words. And he smiled then, and for the briefest of moments, he felt the long since withered glow of affection within him. He laughed, recalling how his species had once so looked down on these creatures, yet these 'bumbling fools' had corrected, and accommodated for every alicorn mistake. They did not wage war and terrorize each other, they did not breed ideas of betterment or social construct, and they knew not the agonizing pain of good dying in vain. No, this world - this universe - belonged to them, not the alicorn, despite all their power and authority. They had attempted to usurp nature before, and again. And the harbinger reflected on what he had done here, to this place. He wondered if his message would be received as intended.

His attention was soon drawn upwards towards the bleak and terrible storm clouds he had brought and contained to this land. Strangle, they appeared to disperse, albeit incredibly slowly. Fragments faded away, and the clouds above absconded in their own wake as if their purpose was fulfilled. The moon and stars could be seen thru cracks and fissured in the sky above. This brought the harbinger both relief and anxiety, for if the darkness's appetite lie satisfied then his brief reprieve from confinement at Hailcryon was at an end. Still, he breathed all the doubts out - as he had learned to do many, many years ago - and focused on the positive. His message was sent, and he would be remembered here as harbinger. 'A fickle name,' he thought, 'But at least it's a name.'

He peered back up at the night sky breaking in thru the cloud line, and saw the moon in strange motion. It was being sent directly eastward at a high speed, off towards Canterlot. Yet, no dark thoughts of malicious intent nor ones of direct pursuit entered his head. He smiled slightly, yet larger than he had smiled in a number of years. He had not fathomed the plans moving against him.

Pinkie Pie and Discord entered the quiet city of Canterlot. While once a bustling city of life and sounds, it lay now abandoned and silent. It was not battered or fragmented by bombardment and darkness like the small town below, it was simply lifeless. It was as if all that had lived there had left midday, never packing their things or finishing their meals. The once bright city felt so uncanny and broken without the life it once contained. Even has foolhardily determined as Pinkie Pie had grown in the last few hours, the uncanny atmosphere left her in slight discomfort.

Discord remained oddly quiet. The atmosphere present in the town reminded him of the desert he had been stranded in earlier. It amazed him how strangely invested he had become in this silly little town and the ones who resided in it. Here he was, the master of all that is strife and chaos, following a disturbed pink little pony as if he was her hound. No, not hound - he wasn't subservient. The ponies didn't think like that. Their naivety and optimism, annoying as it was, felt worth defending in this dark moment.

The two weaved their way thru the empty streets beneath the lightless, lifeless shop signs. There was no evidence of threat, or indeed anything. Pinkie Pie hummed a little impromptu song to herself uneasily in a futile attempt to lighten the atmosphere. Apart from that, the two approached the mighty castle at the edge of the eldritch city, still following the bright moon ahead. As they neared the bottom of the entree stairs, Pinkie Pie quickened her pace and raced up them and into the door.

"Princess Luna!?" she hollered has she burst thru the doors. The palace was as bleak and hollow as Rarity had once described it, with shattered glass littering the floor. It appeared to have been swept though, as it all was amassed in neat little piles at the base of the walls. A path was cleared up into the throne room, and the dim lights of lanterns lit the hallway there.

With no response evident, Pinkie Pie took off up into the hallway towards the throne room. Discord did indeed follow, but as he moved behind her he repaired the stain glass windows magically and restored the lights behind them as they moved. As the two entered the throne room, he conjured a previously unknown spell: a bright lit he sent high up towards the ceiling. The room was bright now, but with no trace of Luna. Celestia still lied crumpled in place in the corner of the room. She was grey now, as grey as the others, but she did not march off to the horde as they had.

"Princess Luna!?" Pinkie Pie shouted the loudest she could manage, "Are you here?! We followed the moon!"

Her words echoed throughout the empty room, and they both sat and waited in silence for a bit. But then, a periwinkle figure dropped graciously from the ceiling and turned to greet them. "Pinkie Pie! I'm so glad that you're safe…" Luna cried, approaching the two. "Discord?" she asked, taking notice of the beast that accompanied Pinkie Pie, "Where on earth have you been?"

"Out on vacation, I'm afraid," he responded dryly, but with a pleasant smile, "It was lovely, but our little pink friend here convinced me well enough to end the festivities earlier and jump into the fray. What a right mess has been made with this place."

Luna smiled back at him, "It's good to see you, all things considered."

Discord laughed, "Ha, I don't any pony's ever been glad to see me…"

Luna then turned to Pinkie Pie with a much more grave look on her face, "You're the last colored mind I detected with the city… Is it true? Are you the last of the element bearers?"

Pinkie Pie nodded solemnly, but looked up at the Princess with a hopeful stance, "I do have some good news though, besides locating Discord I mean. I have an idea; a hypo-noose!"

"…Hypothesis." Discord interpretively interrupted, sounding as though he served as her translator.

"Ugh! Whatever!" she shouted back at him dismissively, "Anyway, so when ponies get infected, they're overcome by their fears, right?"

"Fears?" Luna questioned. Pinkie Pie recalled her absence from all previous conversations.

"Roll with it Princess, I'll explain later. Anyway, so the black stuff gets on you, then you get scared and it infects you! So, I think that we can 'break' a pony out of infection by helping them overcome their fears!"

"How in the world do you hope to accomplish that?" Luna asked, doubts withstanding.

"Well, we just have to figure out what each pony's afraid of. Like Spike's afraid of abandonment, so we need Twilight or Rarity - he likes them best, you see - to help him realize he hasn't been abandoned. If he's not afraid anymore, then he can't be infected!"

Luna smiled slightly, "I feel that there's truth to your words. But no 'hypo-noose' can be confirmed without experimentation. Break out my sister, Pinkie. With Twilight gone, I suppose I am the 'one she likes best' so I'll do what I can. What does she fear, I wonder. Celestia's has always hidden such strong emotions well…"

"Oh shoot…" Pinkie Pie said, a little discouraged, "I never thought about what Celestia might fear… only my friends. Um…oh, I don't know…"

"Think, Pinkie!" Luna called encouragingly, "You have the greatest memory of anypony. Think of when circumstance eroded my sister's royal veneer; Think of when she has panicked!"

"Let's see… um…. um…" Pinkie Pie thought aloud. "When does Princess Celestia panic? errr… Queen Chrysalis! She couldn't defeat queen Chrysalis, she panicked a little… Um, so maybe it's being defeated, not being strong enough… or, or not being able to protect her kingdom!"

Her eyes brightened with a sudden idea, and she turned towards Discord. "Discord!" she shouted, "Attack the kingdom! Attack us and let Princess Celestia defeat you!"

"What?" the draconequus sputtered in disagreement, "Let her defeat me? Hardly. And besides… she's all grey and whiney. What makes you think she'll do anything besides cry?"

He began to dance in a blatant mockery, "'Oh no! My kingdom is under attack the powerful and handsome Discord!" his voice was high in pitch, mimicking hers, "Twilight Sparkle isn't here to fix everything for me, I guess I better turn grey and whine!"

He then let out some grandiose laughter and peered at the other two, expecting them to find the joke as humorous as he did. His laughter slowed to a halt as they glared back at him angrily.

"Discord!" Pinkie Pie shouted with the tone of a disapproving mother, "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but our kingdom is kind of under attack. In fact, three out of the four creatures standing in this room are the only uninfected ones in said kingdom. So, if it's not too much trouble for you, would you kindly take this seriously!?"

At that last sentence, sweet little Pinkie Pie approached screaming. She was bubbling with aggravated rage. Discord drew back a bit, "Alright, alright. No need to yell, I'll do it. Sheesh, talk about a tough audience…."

He motioned over towards a nearby pillar and snapped his fingers, turning the well-crafted monument into a pile of dirt and toy cars. The cars buzzed annoyingly about the room. "Oh, look at me!" he said loudly, but rather uninterestedly, "I'm attacking the kingdom and nopony but the mighty Princess Celestia can stop me! It's a good thing she's a whiney ball of sadness!"

Luna placed her hoof comfortingly upon her fragile sister's shoulder, ignoring the freezing cold of the touch. "Dear sister," she spoke in a hushed and gentle voice, "Won't you help us defeat this cruel attacker? Look past your doubt and your fears. You're sister and friends are here to back. Please, sister, we need your help…"

Celestia shook her head then, still trembling, "No, no, no… There's never been anything I could do directly. I-I…I've always…"

"So you will not try?" Luna cut her sister off, her voice a bit harsher now, "But did you not once tell me that it's better to do something, anything!? Will you leave your kingdom to the mercy of circumstance, or will you fight? Fight with us, dear sister!"

And at those words, Celestia - despite the curse that had fallen upon her - peered up her little sister and smiled ever-so-slightly. "Yes…" she said weakly, "You're right. It is important…to try. I have not tried in a while."

She slowly motioned herself upwards and turned to face the 'attacker' Discord, albeit rather meekly and weakly. Wincing a bit and shaking off some sorrow, the horn of the mighty Princess sparked with magic, and she launched a spell at the draconequus. It struck him in the shoulder, and he let out a small noise of discomfort.

"Ack, that's it?" he shouted, as if annoyed, "That barely tickled! C'mon, she can do better than that!"

"Discord!" Pinkie Pie shouted, that angered tone withstanding.

He met her gaze and grimaced, "Oh, right! Er, I mean, 'Oh mighty Princess Celestia! I am no match for you!'" His words and actions were affixed in drama and overacting, "'I am defeated, and I shall never dare to attack a kingdom with such a powerful ruler ever again!' …But I'm still handsome…"

A soft smile stretched upon Princess Celestia's lips, and the grey that had covered her began to shrink away from head to toe. And with a flash of blinding light, she collapsed to the floor. As the other regained their sight, they saw there that the Princess's colors were restored and she appeared no different than she had before the start of all of this.

Luna then rushed to her side. "Sister!" she called out, helping the Princess to stand, "Are you alright?!"

Princess Celestia moaned a bit, and pressed her hoof into her head. "Goodness, I have a mighty headache…" she mumbled. Her eyes were squinted in sharp pain, but they soon shifted and widened in memory. "That figure!" she shouted, "Where has he gone?!" She then peered around at all in the room, "When did you all get here? Did he incapacitate me!?"

She showed absolutely no signs of infection, nor the dim disposition that had befallen the others in the town. Pinkie Pie grinned then, wider than ever, at her successful amelioration.

"It worked!"


	11. Chapter 11: A Cure for Optimism

The dark clouds chuckled as they lingered about the perennial starry sky. They engaged in a mockery of not only their harbinger, but of the four beasts scurrying within the mighty Canterlot castle walls. They peered in thru the many glass windows at the four - Pinkie Pie, Discord, Luna and the ameliorated Celestia - all gathered around each other, minds aglow with ideas and schemes. The machinations of the clouds, and of the foul dank matter they have spewed about the landscape, had all but fulfilled it's intended purpose. But the minds within the battered castle's walls, free of all negative influence, refused to be conquered so easily.

The mighty alabaster ruler of Equestria, the decorated Princess Celestia, had not yet fully acclimatized to the situation hurling rapidly in the direction of conclusion before her. Her mind lingered in a daze, frantic and muffled. Yet she stood determined, and ready to interact with her forces, the three most unlikely candidates, as it were; a redeemed nightmare, a sardonic anathema and a spunky baker.

"Pinkie Pie!" the ruler spoke, her voice and mind coming into focus, "Please tell me all you know of the plague upon my kingdom, and of the defiler that has brought it here."

Pinkie Pie nodded, still immensely overjoyed with her work, "The darkness is a fear-inducing-thing-a-ma-jig. It latches onto you, and then strikes when your greatest fear has been realized in any capacity. It blocks out your perceptions and breaks you… so to speak. Then you get all grey, and act like you fear is all you know. You seem to forget a lot - Twilight Sparkle forgot me completely. But others, like Spike, aren't fully under the influence of the sticky-icky darkness. Twilight used her magical princess powers to talk to him somehow, and he's fully aware in there!"

"And what of that bleak fellow who carried it here with him?" Discord asked, voice calm and pleasant, "I haven't really got a good look at him…"

"Perhaps I am the one with the most… direct contact with the harbinger…" Luna claimed softly, "Rainbow Dash and I had a run in with him that ended in injury. He nursed me back to health, as it were. He's vastly intelligent - even tried to spar philosophy with me. His causes and motives are rather elusive. He only responses to questions of his presence here with vague answers like, 'I'm sending a message.' or 'I want to be remembered.' Much of his behavior is strange and contradictory. He moves about, spreading the darkness as he sees fit but confining it here when it wants to spread. He stalks us and casts mockery and dark sarcasm upon us, but he spared me of his machinations thus far and aided Rainbow Dash and myself when we were injured…"

"He spared me too…" Pinkie Pie interrupted. Her face and words were quite somber, "He rooted in my head a bit, then stopped. Said taking me would be like 'the needless slaughter of a lamb'. I'm not sure whether I hate him or feel sorry for him…"

"That character, I recall him!" Princess Celestia added, her murky memory becoming clear, "He was bound in bandages, and spoke with a deep voice. He… he was an alicorn, but unknown to me…"

"So basically we know nothing about the fellow…." Discord quipped, rather annoyed, "We don't why he's here, where he comes from, if the darkness is under his control OR who he even is. Fantastic, so moving on to fixing the rest of the element bearers so they may swoop in and give that mummified freak-bag the boot! Who's next on the 'restore' list?"

"Yes, your amelioration method worked perfectly, Pinkie!" Luna spoke, quiet and impressed, "The time for thinking and has passed, we need a plan of action!"

"We need to gather the Elements of Harmony!" Celestia interjected, "Are they still locked away within Twilight's library?"

"Yes…" Luna responded. "During my stay there, I sought them out when the harbinger wasn't looking. I didn't want to risk trying to take them with me and having him discover them, so I left them there…"

"I take it the harbinger has settled into the library, making it a base of his…" Celestia commented intuitively, "Perhaps it would be better to gather the bearers first, then retrieve the elements…"

"Well, what will we do if we run across that delightful character?" Discord questioned, "The four of us running around in the empty cities will cause a fuss. And how will we find the wonderful gang of element bearers? All the ponies in town have run off to play with the woodland creatures, so to speak…"

"Those very woodland creatures are great assets to us…" Luna added, smirking proudly to herself, "Let's call them back up. They have orders to search for the element bearers."

Celestia smiled for the first time since this began, and turned towards her faithful, and surprisingly brilliant pink subject, "So, who are we fixing now Pinkie?"

Pinkie Pie thought for a bit, running of the candidates and their perceived fears. After a few seconds of calculation, she lifted her head back up towards the Princess. "Twilight Sparkle!" she said, "Your dearest of students who so fears the future!"

"How shall we go about retrieving her?" Celestia asked, "Do think she's moved off to join the other dark ones?"

Pinkie Pie shook her head, "No. It's strange, with you and Twilight. You stayed here and Twilight went to wander the town. Neither of you behaved quite like the others, but you're both alicorns, and the harbinger infected you both directly. …at least I think he infected Twilight directly…."

"I see. So she's in the town." Celestia nodded, taking Pinkie's words on par. She turned quickly to her younger sister. "Can you sense her, Luna?" she asked, "Can you pick up any signs of life within the city?"

"I did not sense her earlier, but perhaps I did not know what I was looking for…" the younger sister replied. She smiled then, "I shall try a second time, then. It is always important to try."

Luna closed her eyes and exhaled, and the atmosphere seemed to breathe out with her. A breeze rushed into the throne room, and Pinkie Pie felt the strange warmth of comfort, like that of a mother or loved on, rush over her. Luna whispered something to herself in tune with the breeze, something nearly inaudible, and virtually indistinguishable from the calm winds around them. Her eyelids flickered, and her brow stiffened in thought and concentration. As she inhaled again, the breeze and warmth rushed away, and the stiff air settled once again.

"She is there…" Luna whispered. "She's in the town… at the boutique, of all places. She is resting…. very tired." Luna's head wobbled as she spoke in a weary monotone. She seemed slightly sleepy, or entranced. The somniferous vibes very much unsettled Pinkie, who had much preferred the warm breeze.

"Alrighty then…" Discord said, visibly and audibly creeped out. "Now that the seance is over and the spirits have guided us, let's get going…"

The sisters grinned at him, that villain. Never had they imagined the role he had taken to filled by one such as him. "What's the rush, Discord? Don't you like Ponyville the way it is? I thought the normal version was much too boring…" Celestia teased.

"I'll take boring over parasitic, your majesty." Discord sputtered, displeased at his perceived benevolence. "If any being is to take this place over, it's going to be _me_! Now let's get that mummy off our land!"

Pinkie Pie smiled then. ''our land', huh?' she thought, quoting the beast. 'somepony's starting to like us…'

The town had an arid feel to it as they wondered within it's borders. Buildings and shops creaked and moaned, as if waking up. The air around the quiet city softly shrieked and bellowed as a ghost far in the distance would. Debris and bits of plank, roof tiling and other refuse still littered the streets, but it had seemed to part as if recognizing the foursome's right to passage or the solidarity in their plans and motives. The black puddles were nonexistent now, and nowhere to be seen.

Pinkie Pie lead the group with such force, utilizing the colorful and detailed mental map she had tucked away in the deep corners of her head. The group, even the flying ones, all walked with purpose, each nearing a run. It was colder in the city than Pinkie remembered. She came to a halt soon outside Rarity's esteemed workshop. It stood proudly in it's decoration - it was always a bit tacky, Pinkie thought - and it swayed as if oblivious to the machinations that surrounded it. The frame of the building was no where near unscathed, but it retained it's composure none the less.

The inside of the boutique was a mess. It's state did not stem from storms or tremors, but from trauma endured hooves. There were patterns in the way the cloth, needles and lace were pulled from the shelf and dropped sullenly to the floor. It reeked of the haphazard, of desperate shifting and tossing as if committed by conviction. No, there was a mind directly responsible for the mess here.

Pinkie Pie eased into the next room, the three wonders well behind her. The composts of lace and string marked a path into the next area, accompanied by muffled sounds and shallow breathing. A lit flickered at the other side of this room, the workshop. Pinkie Pie entered uneasily, but relaxed with forlorn, for there she beheld the infiltrator's work. Three finished patchwork hazmat suits, forcefully and sloppily stitched together upon the mannequins there. There was a sadness to them, and the lack of skill that made them. They were practically held together with spit.

The light at the end of the room hovered over Twilight Sparkle, who sat amidst a barren fortress of supplies gathered all around her station. She reached for tape, tore strings with her teeth, and hastily chopped away at fabric and lace. All the while, she retained an empty look upon her face, as if exhausted and over-stimulated. Deep, drowsy circles encased her hollow eyes, and the scrapes and scruffs of mishaps scattered her frame.

"That's Twilight Sparkle alright…" Pinkie Pie whispered. She motioned towards Princess Celestia with all pretensive form gone. "You're up, Princess! Your words will carry the most weight here…"

"What shall I say?" Celestia asked. There was little uncertainty, simply a wish for clarity.

"Twilight fears the future, and all that future brings!" Pinkie Pie answered, her voice still hushed. "You need to convince her that the future isn't as scary as she thinks!"

Celestia nodded, and slowly approached the sole, solemn figure. Twilight Sparkle whimpered slightly, still involved in her work, and payed the princess no mind. Celestia spoke to her, quietly but with impact, "You were always careful to defend your heart…"

Twilight paused in her work, and lifted her head up slowly. But she shook it then, and hunched back into her cruel task. She tended to the stitches and prods of her hazmat suits, plucking away as a desperate musician.

Celestia did not waver, and moved closer to the figure. Her voice was more firm and vibrant now, but retained it's gentle composure. "But you were careless to a fear. It might feel like you've come undone… that all the walls around you have filled in… but you're not alone here." Celestia nestled the supplies and lace away from grey Twilight Sparkle, whose hooves stiffened up in place as she sniffled, and held back sobs. It was like a mother and a child, and the gentleness silenced the three who looked on. Pinkie Pie, in all her banks of memory, could not recall another time she had seen Twilight Sparkle so vulnerable.

Celestia motioned to cradle her, and did not wince at the touch of Twilight's ice cold skin. The dim creature instinctively nestle her head underneath the alabaster ruler's chin. Celestia rocked back and forth, holding her subject there. "My dearest of students," Celestia spoke in a near dead whisper, "You don't have to prepare for the end anymore…."

Stiffness quickly left Twilight's limbs, and she relaxed into her dear mentors arms. Tears trickled down her cheeks, but she did not bawl nor make sounds of any kind. The grey matter upon her drifted away, but with no splendor or decadence. The light from the candle nearby trickled, and illuminated her restored colors. She moved away from her mentor, and sat back on the floor.

Twilight opened her eyes then, and peered at the four in the room. She did not appear dazed or confused. "I…. I had hoped you all…would come!" she whimpered, struggling to keep her composure. She began to nod convulsively, and the corners of her mouth tightened as she held back tears. "No, no…" she mumbled, "No, I knew you'd all come… I knew that…that the spell could be broken…"

Pinkie Pie smiled, and rushed to her friend. She pushed aside the royalty and latched onto Twilight Sparkle. "I'm so happy you're back, Twilight!" she hollered, not above tears herself, "What were you thinking running off like that!? You had us worried sick!"

Twilight Sparkle laughed uneasily, and blushed as if embarrassed. "I see… you've brought the calvary!" she said, drawing all attention away from her held back tears and sentiment. "It's good to she you all. Even you, Discord…"

"Wouldn't miss it for anything…" Discord was the first to respond, though he hovered in the back. He did not look up at the ponies in the room, but smiled to himself. He tried to mask it with his eagle-claw, but the corners shined thru.

Twilight Sparkle sniffled, and carefully wiped her nose. She turned to Pinkie Pie, "Where are the others?" she asked, still masking sentiment.

Pinkie Pie shook her head, "No others…. Just us."

"Rarity and Rainbow Dash are gone too?"

"Yep."

"Even Zecora and all the town-ponies?"

"Yep. The harbinger attack us shortly after you left."

Twilight shook her head in frustration at that point, as if ashamed of the optimism that had possessed her before she approached the harbinger. "That was stupid of me…. thinking I could just walk up and ask him questions…"

Luna looked rather amazed, and moved up into the foreground. "You spoke to him?"

Twilight nodded, "Yes. I was curious… I wanted to know his intentions. His actions seems so… inconsistent. He told me he was here to 'bear a gift' for us, and to 'make a point'. I yelled at him, told him to hurry and make his point. So, he did… the rest you all can figure out."

"You suspect he's not entirely malevolent as well?"

"…seems that way."

Discord scoffed. "What a pansy! You're telling this guy busted his way in here and attacked the town just to 'prove a point'? Or 'send a message'? That's the lamest thing I've heard in my entire life. He should just commit to evil, the wussy…"

"No, no…" Twilight shook her head, dismissing the draconequus's attempts at humor. "This isn't about good and evil. Not by a long shot…"

"I've got a plan Twilight!" Pinkie Pie shouted in excitement, "Well… the Princesses helped a bit. But we've got to break all our friends out of their fears, then use the elements against the harbinger. It's sad, in a way. He said he was planning to leave."

Celestia scoffed, and spoke with bitter conviction, "Do not forget that he has ravaged the town and left it a horrible state, not to mention the psychological burdens he has forced on it's citizens. It seems you all hold some pity for him, and you've interacted with him much more than I, but he must be recognized as an invader. If he will not right the wrongs forced upon my subjects, then he must be forcefully removed. I will not allow my kingdom to be abandoned in a state like this."

Luna looked away in worry. She did not dare cross her sister, no raise points in the harbinger's favor. Twilight and Pinkie Pie reflected that feeling, and understood the militaristic importance of gathering the elements to attack the harbinger. Twilight turned to Pinkie then.

"Tell me the details of your plan, Pinkie…" she said. "Who do we break out next…?"

Pinkie Pie tapped her head in thought. "Hmm… We don't even really know where the rest of the folks are, save Spike. But… but if you're words could break him out, they'd have done so already. So he must need Rarity… Yeah that's it! Let's find Rarity and see if your words can bring her back, Twilight!"

Twilight Sparkle smiled then, still proud of Pinkie Pie. "Ok. What fear do you think captured her, Pinkie? I'm sure you'd know more about it than the rest of us."

"I'm not sure, really. Rarity's really good at keeping her composure…."

"What happen to her when she was infected?" Luna asked, hiding the shallow excitement of her involvement in the discussions.

"I don't know. Rainbow Dash swooped me up and we were off before I saw." Pinkie Pie answered, looking away. She retained shards of shame.

"Well…" Twilight theorized, bringing her hoof to her chin. She was still very much shaken, despite everything. "I could try reading her thoughts like I did with Spike. I'm not sure if her consciousness will be as intact as Spike's was… but I guess it's our only lead.."

"Whoa, whoa! Hold up now…" Discord said, gesturing accordingly. "You're going to 'read her mind'? What, you can just do that?"

Twilight Sparkle nodded, recalling earlier events. "It's hard to explain, it just kind of happened. I can feel pockets of energy, sounds and thoughts. That kinda thing. It's hard to explain… The concepts kinda ineffable."

"It's a common trait among the alicorn, particularly the Old Ones; The ability to feel the energies and permutations of nature. It's a great guiding tool. Some can even influence the thoughts, minds and behaviors of others." Celestia explained.

"…But not all of them…" Luna teased, retaining a benign smugness over the abilities she possessed that her sister lacked.

Celestia took no offense to the interjection, and promptly turned to her sister and defiantly stuck out her tongue, grinning all the while.

"Okay…" Discord nodded, tossing aside all prior confusion, "If the Professor and the Psychic are going off to read palms, what are us mystical magical types doing?"

Celestia approached him, and stuck her hoof in his chest. "Well, _you're _going with them to help locate the other bearers and for protection."

Discord rubbed his chest in discomfort, and responded in all manners of sarcasm, "Very well, your majesty. But what about you two?"

Celestia smiled over to her sister, who nodded in response to her words. "I believe the sun's overdo for a rising."

"What bunk is this?…sticking the master of chaos with 'guard duty' while they saunter up to space to conjure the merry old sun…." Discord barked in a grouchy, disgruntled voice. He spoke and stammered mainly to himself as he followed Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle thru the decadent town. "What is wrong with me? All I've done the past while is go along with things. Ack… This friendship thing is really dragging me down…"

Twilight Sparkle raised an eyebrow, and turned to Pinkie Pie. "Has he been complaining the whole time you've been traveling with him?" she whispered.

Pinkie Pie nodded, a characteristic grin painting her face. "Yup. Pretty much!" she chanted, "Don't read too much into it. He's just mad because he actually really likes us… I mean, if he didn't he'd have run off by now…"

Twilight turned back to the dark road ahead. "Yeah, I guess you've got a point…" She slowed a bit, a look of a faint realization dappling all the way down her face. "Uh…Pinkie? You know where you're going, right?"

Pinkie Pie shook her head dandily to and fro, that grin in tact. "Nope. I was following you! You're the one with the psychic powers and all."

Twilight smack her hoof against her forehead then, and dragged it to her gob. "I was following _ you_! I thought you might remember where Rarity was…"

Pinkie Pie stopped, and shook her head more. "Nope. Last place I saw her was in the town hall. She wasn't there when Discord and I went to talk to Spike, so she must've left. It's no trouble though! Just use you're newly found super powers!"

Twilight scoffed then, annoyed and perturbed. "I don't have 'super powers', Pinkie. It's a type of magic. And I've only known about it for a day and a half, I've only used it at close range! Even then, I only did it purposefully once with the subject in question right in front of my face! I can't blanket the town and search…"

"Well, shoot. I'm stumped." Pinkie Pie said with her bottom lip puffed out. Discord stopped shortly behind them, still muttering to himself.

"Whoa, what's the hold up?"

Pinkie Pie turned the the salient beast, and spoke calmly and collectively. "We've discovered that we have no idea where we're going!"

Discord scowled, but showed little surprise. With the impeccable timing of a clap of thunder, he launched himself up into the atmosphere, his movements like that of a snake. It was rather startling how quickly he flowed up vertically into the air with the motions of reflecting light on water. The two ponies below stood in the hollow streets in awe as Discord disappeared above the skyline.

"Whoa, I didn't know he could do that!" Pinkie Pie shouted in disbelief, her pupils wide and receiving.

Twilight Sparkle smiled then, granted she was still shaken from the preceding events. "He can mess with the firmament of reality with remarkable ease, Pinkie." she said, with a touch of a friendly condescendence, "Shooting up into the sky is pretty mundane compared the stunts he usually pulls."

Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he's really good at aug…arg…ummm, influencing reality and stuff. Harbinger better watch his bee-hind!"

Time passed with periodic flickers of movement in the heavens. Discord reappeared as a serpent slithering down the airwaves of space. He landed and stumbled, appearing nauseous. The two ponies drew closer to him with concern as he reacclimatized to the base environment.

"You alright, Discord?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Discord wobbled in place a bit, and brushed off the question. "I really hate doing that…"

"What was that all about?" Twilight asked, helping the beast to stand.

"I was looking for your preppy friend, little princess…" Discord said between pants, "You know, the purple haired one…"

"Rarity!? You found her?" Pinkie Pie said, words ignited with excitation.

"Yeah, yeah… The animals rounded her up, took her to some farm. You're hick friend and a bunch of kids are also there."

"Can you zap us there?"

Discord laughed, then coughed. "Nah. That trick's good for looking, not so good for going. Even if it could, I… I don't want to do it again."

"So both Rarity and Applejack are at Sweet Apple Acres… How far is that from here, Pinkie?" Twilight asked, releasing Discord to stand by his own vocation. Pinkie Pie blinked briefly in thought, then spoke bluntly.

"Due east, about a twenty minute walk."

The blazing sun arose in the east, and silently burnt away the night. It's orange outreach stretched solemnly and defiantly across the landscape, like a brazen angel of liberation. The clouds and darkness that had seized and occupied the heart of Equestria shriveled away, save a thick, bitter vestige about Twilight's library. The sisters - the guardians of this land - struck and gleamed across the skyline, moving westward as the imposing solar light dimmed the dots, stars and nebulas that painted the night sky. All manners of decadence shrived here, in this moment. It was a great and brilliant resurgence, as pulsating and riveting as a firework - a great flashbulb exasperating the crippling claws of doubt, respite and memory. The harbinger stood in awe before the fiery beacon, and he alone drew no comfort from it.

It was a symbol, the revitalization of those he had moved against. He swallowed hard, and felt more alone than ever. His message would be erased, and he would soon be stricken from the records of this world. But in their memories, he would remain forever. His foray was realized, but he found no relief in this. A disturbing, and distraught revelation sunk it's way down into his chest, and flooded the corners of his mind as surely as the light of the sun flooded his dim work. It was a cruel joke, and he was it's example. He had made a choice between forgotten benevolence and imprinting cruelty. No longer the friend of those of the earth, he would soon become the anathema of this time - an example of great evil.

And there in the midst of all records of knowledge, Ponietheus - tucked away with the shell of the harbinger - wept, for he realized that in this moment, he had killed himself. The story of Ponietheus, the fire-thief revered by the sentient of this planet, would finally be erased. And he himself, who sat in the comforts of being the victim for so many wasted moments, had killed the story with his actions. He no longer bore the name and the story of the kindly creature he once was. He would now be the Harbinger, that fickle beast that wrought so much woe and desolation upon those that deserved none of it.

And as sure as the sun that rose in the east, the twin sisters and element bearers would be gunning for him now. He had erased all sentiment and sympathy that this universe still carried for him. He turned away from the sun.

"Reality isn't so kind… especially to the cruel." he whispered to himself. "You're story may not work out the way you want it to… but… that gives you no right to trample upon the stories of others." He coughed, still wrapped in his bandages and decor. "I-I…I have been truly forgotten this day… This time by myself."

And there in a fickle hallway of stones and glass, he stood a ruined city baked in fallout encapsulated into a feeble, desperate creature. For to destroy yourself and to forget yourself - your symbols and code - is the cure for any optimism.


	12. Chapter 12: Love

In a cold and graceful light, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie and Discord witnessed a brilliant sunrise. It painted hope and streaked across the dim skyline in utter brilliance. The extended night was sent away, and light was stretch to all corners of the battered earth surrounding the two cities. Two distinct and shimmering strokes - the two Princesses - spread upon that skyline at the edge of darkness, sweeping away dust from the heavens. Apart from a cluster of cloud hovering above Harbinger's temple in the library, no stretch of land was without glamour.

It was a symbol; the revitalization of the land, and of the trodden. Pinkie Pie swallowed, and smiled for the dark cusp of somber solitude and the sadness therein brushed away from her. She stood with her companions there at the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, and watched with relief as the creaky trees awoke and danced in the breeze. Animals surfaced, and remained organized as if a universal thrall while they continued rounding the infected and gathering them together. They herded their masters about, and collected them into a nearby field.

And there in the midst of nature's restored glow, Pinkie Pie - surrounded on all sides with joy and love - rejoiced, for her plan was irrevocably in motion. The element bearers, her dear friends, were soon to be sprung from their cages and returned. All would be returned, and the dim wasted moments that had stowed away such bright love and happiness would finally be erased. And he would be expelled, that fickle beast that wrought so much woe and desolation. A milky melancholy sat in recluse within Pinkie Pie's gut, for she did not want to fight Harbinger.

'In the best of all possible worlds, he'd never have come here.' she thought to herself. 'but i guess the stories don't ever truly work out the way you want them too.'

She thought briefly of that ancient tome, the one recovered by Rarity the day this started. Oh, for that simple story remained entrenched in her mind, like a coursing memory, and she remembered how it ended - precisely the way she didn't want it to.

"So… Prissy and Cowgirl are down there, right?" Discord asked as if he wasn't the one that gathered that information. He stood a bit far from the two, and had his arms crossed.

"Eeyup!" Pinkie Pis answered, cheekily mimicking Big McIntosh

"…And after that, then what? Are we going to run around and find the rest of your posse? What are there, like eight of them?"

"There's five, and yes." Twilight Sparkle responded in a serious tone. "And do you seriously not know their names?"

"I know their names, Twilight Sparkle. But the nicknames make you mad, so I use them." Discord responded with a sly smile. "But why'd you have to make five friends? Couldn't you have made only two? This would all have been a lot easier if you'd only two friends…"

Twilight Sparkle frowned, trying not to be angered by the beast.

"So it's decided!" Discord chanted, still prodding the periwinkle princess, "After this all get's sorted out, I'm combining all your friends into one pony. That way when some other creature inevitably attacks the town, we'll just have to fetch one of your incessant chums. …Still, it might be better to leave Pinkie Pie out of it. I suspected she's got enough voices in her head to populate a small crazy city."

Pinkie Pie dramatically gasped, playing Discord's little game, and eyed him with sarcastic surprise. "You know about them!?"

Discord unleashed a hearty laugh, there in the light of the sun, and acknowledged Pinkie's bickering victory. He rather enjoyed the company, though he'd never admit it. It was an oddment, the cold light of the sun. That bleak feeling that was encompassed with the cloud and the perennial night was washed away almost immediately. It felt redundant, their task of breaking their friends from the darkness, for that grand light of the rising sun baked the three in it's benevolent gleam. Pinkie Pie had forgotten how dependent life had been on the light. It was very interesting to her - though she kept quiet about it - that the most illuminating part of this journey for her was her time alone in the dark. 'Darkness needed to open your eyes.' she thought, '…What utter irony.'

The group descended from that hill from whence the stood, down into the revived garden below. The trees regained their glamour, shaking off the dust that had settled before. Herds of ever infected towns-ponies were gathered in the fields near the barn. While marked with the scraps of struggle, they were unbound and relatively unharmed. Creatures of all colors patrolled the yards, like a grand legion. There was something strange in their eyes, like an alien consciousness.

"Prissy and Cowgirl are inside the house, last time I checked." Discord said as they approached the compound of houses there. "The fuzzy, cute animals knew enough to keep them separate."

"…Anypony else completely creeped out by the horde of oddly organized animals?" Twilight asked in unease.

"Praise everything, I thought I was the only one who noticed!" Discord responded. "You should've seen them be conjured for battle earlier, your highness."

"None of that really matters right now, does it?" Pinkie Pie declared. She was oddly determined, but blind resilience was not all that painted her face.

The group entered the house. It was radiantly lit, but a ravaged mess inside. Memories of previous events flooded the minds of the two ponies there, for each had endured the events preceded there. Remnants of their abandoned supply bags and exploits littered the battered halls. Pictures hung off center on the walls, side tables knocked of, shelves in disarray; All reminders of a darkness soon to be expelled.

Rarity and Applejack, grey and unconscious, lay rather peacefully on the couches in the living room. Their hairs both were a muck, messy and damaged. They bore the physical aliments of all that had happened there, Rarity even more so. Pinkie Pie smiled to herself. Rarity would have a fit if she saw her hair like that.

Twilight took the forefront. "Ok, here goes."

She approached Rarity's fragile form and clenched her eyes shut. It was trivial to perform such magic now, despite her lack of experience. To the rhythms of a deep exhale, she felt a tingle in the base of her hooves. Gravity gave way, like the spinning sensations of a dream, and even the light of the sun faded back from her perceptions. Into that bitter soundscape of thought she found herself once again, diving into Rarity's head. The bleak sounds of Harbinger's influence remained ever waning then, and the depths were not as difficult to manage now. The incessant whispers, and noises like chlorine or a tragic rush were soft, and barely noticeable. It's was all rather quiet there.

The depths were shaking and discombobulated. The landscapes thereof were difficult so feel. No, the infection was wearing off naturally. Twilight hypothesized that the vast ordinations and scopes were simply Rarity's entire mind, rather than the parts wholly tormented by Harbinger's dark magic. The darkness was waning, and she needed direction.

"Pinkie Pie!" she asked, still enveloped in strange energies, "I need direction. I can see Rarity's mind, but I don't know where to look for fear. I don't know what part Harbinger's magic is affecting."

"What do you need from me?" Pinkie Pie asked, her voice crisp and clear.

"Direction!" Twilight commanded, "Recall a time you've seen Rarity crack, it'll give me a lead to pursue. Something, anything!"

"Umm… The gala dresses!" Pinkie Pie answered quickly. "We rejected her work, and the results were disastrous, remember? She wouldn't even come out of her room."

A shallow lead, but it was something. Twilight recalled that time, and imagined the correct energies. It was like two minds having a conversation, albeit with no words. The landscapes there responded to the feeling of that memory, and shifted. Twilight felt a sensation like gravity, or being sucked thru a wind tunnel. The world there felt bleaker, and she heard a familiar raspy tome.

"A plague upon your home."

Twilight Sparkle smiled. She was close.

Whispers flooded the soundscape again, but they were weak and feeble. She was hardly overwhelmed with the waned presence of the bleak symphony of whispers and sounds that revolved around this fragment of Rarity's mind. Her alabaster friend did not speak to her as Spike had, and despite the evident weakness of the dark magic now, that place was still desolate. Twilight flowed down deeper, as if lead by the boatman of Limbo. Is was a tragic place, and filled with a cold whisper which amplified the deeper Twilight dove.

"Pity poor Rarity," the whispers taunted. The voices sounded like her. "You pour your heart and soul into everything you do, into every stitch of fabric. There's no price for such art. Your work has a life of it's own doesn't it. But you must put a price on it, you must assign a numerical value to your work. Qualify and quantify. Bid for bits. That's just the world you live in. It's all about the money, isn't it. You're customers barter for your hard work, and your crafts always have to meet their standards, their way of thinking, their sense of beauty. You can never be good enough the way that you are."

Silence befell that dark place as Twilight absorbed the words. She felt pity, coupled with an understanding. It amazed her how the smallest of occurrences, the smallest of negative emotion could stick and grow deep inside of minds. She spoke softly then, almost out of innate reaction or instinct.

"That's a bleak way to put it, don't you think? It's a strange game, balancing art and product. Creation for the sake of creating, or creating for attention and reward. Those seem like the only two options. It's very difficult to see the future of your work, with those to ends tugging at you all the while. But I've looked into the future, and I saw nothing. Do you know why, Rarity? Because the future isn't yet. It's crafted by choices - little insignificant choices that each of us make every day. So all you have to do is choose; do I remain afraid of circumstance, or do I bask in the love that fuels all that I do…"

Twilight Sparkle was throw back into the Apple's living room then. Her eyes blurred and her ears rang as her mind acclimatized to the physical. Muffled voices danced around the unclear room then, but they seemed wrapped in excitation. Twilight clenched her eyes once more, exhaled and reopened.

"Uck! But what happened to my hair!?"

"Rarity!" she shouted, pushing herself up from the floor. Rarity coughed, but smiled. She wore the look of the weary, but was returned from the darkness once more. She brushed her ravaged hair aside and relished in the warm bath of the sun.

"In the flesh…"

Rarity barely had the time to pull herself from the couch before being ambushed with hugs and affection from her two friends. Discord rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he slunk back, visibly disgusted at the affection. The triage descended into cute quips and reassurances.

"It's great to have you back, Rarity!" Twilight shouted.

"It's good to be back, darling!" Rarity responded, her happiness - while quite genuine - was force to bleed thru shakes and uncertainty. Yet, despite everything, there was a calmness and a maturity enveloping the three as they conversed. And attune to the glow of the sun, the plan was reinstated - given to Rarity.

"The 'fear breaking' part is clearly feasible, but who's to get the elements? They're deep in the library, hardly within our reach…" Rarity said as the three moved about. She desperately picked at her hair, shifting it to an acceptable and unfortunately practical position. "I doubt he'll allow us to waltz in and take them."

"Well, I defer to Twilight's judgement…" Pinkie Pie said, "Whether we can get a hold of the elements doesn't mean anything if we can't un-fear our friends!"

"Precisely." Twilight said, eyes colored with decor and determination. "However, time's on our side now. We're not running around in the dark; physically or metaphysically. The sun's up, and Harbinger's magic seems to be fading. We're not forcefully breaching the magic, we're speeding up the process. And Pinkie Pie's…um, what did you call it?"

"Hypo-noose!"

"Yeah, the 'hypo-noose' is at least accurate. It's all about emotion. If we can counteract whatever emotional state has been endowed by the magic, we can speed the process and return ponies to normal. Then we'll grab the elements and give Harbinger the boot! …Then we'll worry about restoring the town."

"Right, I-I…I think I understand…" Rarity cooed. "Forgive me, I'm still rather shaken… Ok, so Pinkie Pie was speaking earlier of a specific order. Who's next then?"

"Spike!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "He should be a cinch! It'll be a cake-walk for ya, Rarity!"

Rarity blinked in a shock. "Me?" she asked, pressing a hoof to her chest. She retracted backward a bit. "What do you mean?"

"Well, your words and action will carry more weight with Spike." Pinkie Pie stated, "Mine didn't work, and Twilight's didn't work… So that leaves you! You can do it, after all he-" Her words cut off then, and her eyes widened. She then nodded with old resolve, and drew a line across her mouth. A locking motion followed, then finalized in a throwing action. She sat quiet then.

"Um… he what?" Rarity asked, leaning forward.

"Don't worry about it, we've bigger fish to fry!" Twilight interrupted, eyeing Pinkie with a firm understanding on the subject matter. "We better get to the town hall and find Spike."

The princess turned then to Discord, who sat back unengaged. "Discord!" she shouted, startling the beast. "See if you can find Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash… If you find them, bring them here, understand?"

"Yeah, yeah…I got it…" Discord mumbled, unhappy with his own obsequious behavior. "Anything to get me away from the emotion brigade. Seriously, I can't believe this ancient magic can be conquered by feelie-wheelie love and sunshine hour. Ugh, this day just gets more and more boring."

Twilight shook her head then, confused. 'Ancient magic?' she thought, 'How does he know how old it is? Nevermind…It's not important right now…'

She turned back to her friends. "Okay, ladies: We'll run down to the square and release Spike, then double back here. It'll be dangerous running about the town, and if Harbinger's on the prowl he'll have no trouble finding us. Stick to the shadows, and stay low if you see him. We need all six of us to use the Elements of Harmony, and we're already half way there. With luck, this nightmare will be over in no time. Let's move!"

The sisters relished in their streak across the skyline, basking in the glow of restoration. The air was so warm in the day, like the present smile of a vigil or mentor. Celestia gleamed there, but Luna's excitation was cloven. It was a special kind of unsettling, peering down at the lifeless down, the fickle patches of grey and lifelessness that appeared unmoved, despite the light. No, Luna knew better - there was no going back. The land, the earth itself, felt different - asleep, yet awakened. This was an inscrutable dawn, a resurrection of a time that hadn't yet died. Harbinger had brought more than darkness. There was a gate left unguarded that now waited unlocked.

They approached the library. It sat as though vacant. They had little trouble retrieving the elements, and only caught the slightest glimpse of Harbinger who floated above. He did not acknowledge them, and remained still as if he was waiting for something.

The town hall sat cracked, and virtually unchanged. The three ponies reentered it's halls, that ruined haven. Twilight Sparkle briefly closed her eyes an drew in breath then, recalling the frantic nature of their plight in the dark. She rejoiced in that light, despite the scenery, for they fled from refuge to refuge no more. It felt wonderful to feel in control, to bask in that power Pinkie Pie had scavenged from the darkness. Over the past four grim days, that pony did nothing but impress.

There in the conference room, the very same Nightmare Moon had appeared in and ravaged nearly three years prior, Spike remained right were he was left. He was curled into himself, lying just before a table near piles of rubble. The sun shined thru the grand hole in the roof, the one Harbinger had torn thru, and gleamed as a spotlight upon the tiny dragon. It was an oddity, and the room appeared as a water image or painting. The group approached little Spike, cradled there on the rock.

"…Spike fears abandonment." Pinkie Pie explained, that appointed expert. "Do what you can to make him realize he isn't alone."

Rarity nodded then, a flicker of a somber smile fracturing on her lips. She lay next to him, and placed her hoof gently on his shoulder. She knew much, more than she let on - and a look a resignation hanged on her eyes. She blinked many, many times and her eyes fluttered from place to place. For moments, her mouth remained still. It was calming, there in the sun.

Rarity drew in breath, like preparing for a well-rehearsed speech, one laced with bitter-sweet. "Spike…" she began.

A light snapped her away, and the darkness drained from Spike almost immediately. It's grasp was weak to begin with, and his little green eyes popped open with that characteristic naivety. "Rarity!"

Rarity fell backwards, surprised by the simplicity of the procedure. Her mouth hung open, and her eyes redacted with her brow upwards. "Uh….O-Oh." she said. "That…that was easy. Wow. I…."

Spike sat up, still looking her direction. Uncertainty fell on his eyes, as he began to take in the scenery around him; rubble, rack and desolation combined with the strange juxtaposition of the warm sun. He took accounts of the ponies and the rubble there. "Twilight? Pinkie Pie? What's happened to this place."

Twilight laughed uneasily then, witnessing Rarity slink away in a bit of embarrassment. "Things got worse after you were infected, Spike. But it's alright. Pinkie found a way to to counteract Harbinger's magic. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have regained control of the sun, and we're three ponies shy of being able to use the Elements of Harmony."

Spike looked away then, "Well, why'd ya get me? I can't use any elements of anything…"

Pinkie Pie butted in, looking at Spike was a mark of concern. "Cuz you're our buddy, Spike! We couldn't leave you out!"

Spike smiled up at her. "Yeah, good point!" He shifted to Twilight. "So, mind-reader, bring me up to speed! What's this countermeasure?"

"Harbinger's magic afflicts emotional centers, particularly reactions to fear, doubt, the uncertain and the unknowable. It fixates and intensifies that which you fear most once you experience it in any capacity. The trick is to counteract those emotions with positive ones, namely ones reinforced by a particular pony."

Spike squinted his eyes and nose in shrill, juvenile disgust. "Ew. So the bane of that Harbinger guy is frissy girly stuff."

Pinkie Pie laughed. "Pretty much."

Twilight smiled. "Yeah, and your on par next."

Rarity positioned herself back into the middle of things. "Ahem. Who's Spike to break out? Not sure who's bill he'd fit, giving the three we have left."

Twilight Sparkle held her head high in authority, standing proud of herself. "Well, since Spike knows a thing or two about growing up, I'd say he's fit to ameliorate Apple Bloom. And who better to ameliorate Applejack then her kid sister, right?"

Pinkie Pie nodded as a sycophant. "Back to the farm, then!"

The shutters fluted against the farm house there on Sweet Apple Acres as an applause. Three ponies and a baby dragon marched into that farm, and into that house. Inside, across from the couches that bore two more infected, Discord awaited drearily upon a chair. He had located and fetched the other two and placed them neatly upon the couches next to the laconic Applejack. Fluttershy's eyes were fixed open as they raced about the room, taking in detail. She huddled into herself with her hooves enclosed near her mouth, like an upright fetal position. Rainbow Dash was not so contained. She appeared grey and bound, tied with rope, and thrashed about in a haze of desolate rage.

Discord acknowledged the arrival of Twilight Sparkle and her camaraderie of three. He pushed himself up from a slothful slouch. "Ah, you're back! As you can see, I've collected Fluttershy and the other one. Oh, and I see you've got the little dragon back as well! My, if he isn't just adorable!"

Spike glared up at him with a youthful, indignant gaze. Twilight was quick to brush past him, and halt any confrontation between the two. "Good work, Discord. Erm…. Why is Rainbow Dash all tied up?"

Discord sighed with a roll of the eyes, "She doesn't exactly play well with others, it was all I could do to keep her still. Besides, you never specified _how _I was to get her here, so I figured it was open to interpretation!"

Rarity shrugged in the background. "He's got a point, you know." she said, "If anypony would've been a pain to handle, it'd be Rainbow Dash."

Twilight let out an exhale, and relaxed a bit. "Are all the fillies still upstairs?"

Discord's eyes widened. "There are fillies upstairs?"

"Yeah; Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. They were here yesterday… or the day before? No, they were here before. I can't imagine they left."

"Pfff… What? It's this some kind of dreary Pre-K school now?"

Pinkie Pie tilted her head and peered up the stairs beyond the couches. She recalled what had happened earlier, when herself, Rarity and Rainbow Dash had ventured up there. The borderlines of the second story juxtaposed it's former murk now; It wasn't even dark there. She moved that direction, despite the conversation taking place.

Twilight Sparkle didn't notice her movements until she'd already proceeded up the stairs. The periwinkle princess took off after her friend. "Pinkie Pie? Hey, wait up!"

Rarity took quick notice, and leaped to follow. "Stay here, Spike!" she ordered with a turn of her head.

Spike lamented. "Stay _here_?! But I don't wanna be stuck here with Discord!" The group ignored his pleas, and disappeared up into the depths of the second story.

Discord mocked a face of conviction, and dramatically pressed his hand into his chest. "That hurts my feelings, Spike."

Pinkie Pie had already pushed her way into that back bedroom where they'd spoken to the infected fillies earlier. The room beckoned the pink pony with silence, and that silence spread to the two others as they approached the doorway. The room was almost flooded with fillies of all sizes, like they were being kept there. Each had some room to spare, but that place was definitely over encumbered. It was both a nasty, and pleasant surprise.

Rarity gasped. "Why are all the little ones here?"

Pinkie Pie was well into the room, but her back still faced the entrance. "They were contained here." she concluded, calling backwards, "They were placed here to keep them from moving to the borders of town like the others."

Twilight Sparkle moved closer to Pinkie Pie, nearing the center of the room. The fillies inside payed them no mind, and remained confined to themselves. "Where are the rest? There are more fillies in town than this…"

Pinkie Pie shrugged, "There are other bedrooms."

Twilight nodded. "Spread out! We need to find Apple Bloom!"

A muffled voice called out from the closet. "Find me? I'm in here!"

Attention snapped to a closet, braced from the outside by a crooked dresser. The three moved without words, pushing all away from that particular piece of furniture. Scuffs and scars from it's legs dug into the brazen wood on the floor, as if it was moved recently. They gathered against the left side, and pushed it away. The door was accessible, and Apple Bloom was inside - unharmed. She leaped out, wrapping her arms around Twilight Sparkle.

"Thank you!"

Twilight patted her back, and set the shaken filly down on the floor in front of her. "You're very welcome. What on earth were you doing in there?

Apple Bloom shook her head, and eyed the other fillies nervously. "I don't know. I woke up in here with some big guy herdin' the others in here. He heard me scream at him, then he locked me in the closet. He said he was sorry, and that folks would find me soon…"

She turned then to the window, and gaped at the sun. "Hey, the suns out!"

The other two saw to the other fillies asTwilight Sparkle worked Apple Bloom's attention back towards her. She seemed largely unaffected by the trauma of being under Harbinger's spell, and was merely shaken by being in the closet. It wasn't hard to guess which 'big guy' she had been referring to, though why Harbinger would herd all the kids in here was a strange question indeed.

"Were you hurt? How are you not infected?"

Apple Bloom grimaced. "Infected?" she asked with her nose scrunched up, "What, you mean attack by that black stuff?"

Twilight nodded, "Yeah, the black stuff. Did you touch the black stuff?"

Apple Bloom tilted her head from side to side, and stretch her legs out. "Yeah, the stuff was all over my friends. It was stingy, then I fell asleep. I woke up her and some big guy threw me into the closet. I sat in there for a real long time, then y'all showed up. What's goin' on Twilight? What's with all the hubbub?"

Apple Bloom's banal questions brushed over Twilight. The kid was fine; not a scratch or lingering dark thought. The dark magic had just ostensibly worn off, like it had finished it's work. Pinkie Pie spoke then from the other side of the room, her words solidifying Twilight's thoughts, "The magic's wearing off, Twilight! Look, a lot of the fillies' colors are coming back!"

Twilight Sparkle snapped her head sideways, and view the kids with awe. They were certainly as grey, dim and quiet as ever and yet fragments of hazed colors shown thru. It was all passing, the cloud and the dark, even though Harbinger supposedly lingered. Twilight whispered to herself under her breath, "…Darkness is a separate entity…"

She turn and left the room then, despite everything. The others there shouted at her, ran after her, but she was well down the stairs before their reactions. She weaved thru the furniture, and stared at the three on the couch. They were all still very grey, but color was returning.

"Twilight? What gives!?" Pinkie called, leading the other two down the stairs.

"It's wearing off… The darkness is wearing off!" Twilight shouted, "That's why Pinkie's amelioration has been so easy, the dark magic's grip is waning on it's own. Look, their color is returning!"

Spike moved to Twilight's side as the other three approached the enclave. Discord remained in his chair, like he couldn't be bothered. Apple Bloom turned and noticed him suddenly, and shouted, "Ah! Discord!"

Discord sat up, moving towards her face. "Ah! Some kid! …See, you don't like it much either, so turn around and pay attention to the expository dialogue, sport." He sat back, like one does in a waiting room.

Apple Bloom blinked with a sour frown, and look back towards Twilight despite not having a clue as to what was happening. She stirred in the pawing of a half remembered dream, a dreary haze. That same somniferous haze brushed over those that stood there. "It's all coming to a close." Twilight said, not above the hazy shock herself.

Discord impatiently clapped his hands together then, and sat up. "Alright, you've had your emotion time. Get those three back to normal so we can end this little game, we can discuss the feels and the impacts later."

Twilight Sparkle shook her head, refocusing on her foray. "Yeah…Yeah, right. Let's do this quickly. Pinkie Pie, what do you think each of them fear?"

"Applejack; dependance, she does like to rely on others. Rainbow Dash; failure. Remember her audition for the Best Young Flyer competition? The idea of failure had her shaking! Fluttershy; …Well, what isn't Fluttershy afraid of? She was shouting about things not getting better earlier, let's go with that one!"

The light of the sun shifted, blinding all in the room as it reflected off of surfaces and structures. It combined with a light shimmering from the three infected clustered upon the couch. Their darkness faded away out of synch with each other, as if wearing off naturally. First Fluttershy's, then Applejack's and Rainbow Dash's. All three pulled their eyes open as if waking from a waning nightmare. Each was still as they acclimatized.

"Uhhh… Why am I tied up?" Rainbow Dash quipped, peering down at her bounds.

Twilight's mouth swung open in disbelief. The silence in her jaw was overpowered by a powerful shout of excitation, one that resonated firmly with Pinkie Pie and Rarity. The three upon the couch were suddenly bombarded with hugs and graces from friends and little sisters alike. Rainbow Dash's ropes were cut in those moments, and the three there were pulled gently from the couch.

Applejack turned swiftly to Apple Bloom and pulled her in close. Rainbow Dash rubbed scraps and burns on her forehead, and Fluttershy pawed at the back of her head nervously.

"Um, what's happened?" she asked quietly. "Why are we all here?"

Discord appeared, wrapping himself in the air around her. He seemed oddly thrilled. "Ah, Fluttershy! Welcome back to the real world, you're just in time to sort everything out!"

Fluttershy shrugged, almost apathetically. "Sort everything out? What's going on Twilight?"

Twilight Sparkle had barely recollected herself. The shock of the sudden amelioration of the three, seemingly miraculously, had yet to wear off. She recalled how early Fluttershy had been infected - nearly four days ago. "It's… it's a real long story. You must all be hungry, I'll bring everypony up to speed over some lunch."

The twin Princesses hovered above the restored farmstead. The animals there had dispersed as quickly as they'd arrived, and the infected had wandered away again. They watched as the ones below moved towards a broken field, as if preparing for a final encounter.

Luna turned nervously towards her sister, who floated with glamour in the sunlight. "How'd you do that?" she asked, "How'd you ameliorate those three so easily."

"The darkness is horribly waned." Celestia explained, "It's actually wearing off on it's own. The light of the sun simply hurried the process. I just had to give it a bit of a kick."

"What of the other towns-ponies?"

"They shall be restored in time. Let us rid this land of Harbinger before we heal. One does not fully recuperate until the source of a disease has been extinguished."

"You really dislike him, don't you?"

"Do you not?"

Luna looked away. "I…. It's complicated."

"We will discuss it later then."

"Do you still have the elements, Celestia?"

"Yes. Strange they were in that old book I'd found before this began, that's not where Twilight had left them…"

"That tome, I recognize it. Did he place the elements there?"

Celestia nodded solemnly ."Perhaps. He is waiting for us to attack him. It's obvious, isn't it? He knew we were there…"

"I figured. …How'd you find that old thing in the first place?"

Celestia shifted her gaze downward, struggling to recollect. "It in my belongings suddenly. I had only begun to read it when the darkness first approached."

Luna tilted her head in a strange and budding curiosity, "What was in it?"

"Old tales. Legends. Things forgotten."

"…Forgotten, huh?"

Celestia moved to the ground, placing her hooves gently upon the resuscitated soil. Luna followed in suit. The old book containing the elements hovered magically at the elder sister's side. She had a glow about her, and well contradicted Luna's newfound soberness. Celestia inhaled thru her nostrils, and exhaled out her mouth. She smiled at the scenery. She found mirth - and Luna gloom - in the ever approaching end. Soon the elements would be delivered, and Harbinger faced.

They entered the farm house then, and found six ponies, a filly, a delighted baby dragon and a seemingly disinterested cosmic being all crammed at a table, eating and discussing. Pinkie Pie, who faced the door, was the first to see the sister enter.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! You're both back!"

Celestia smiled and step forward, as Luna sunk backwards. "Yes!" the alabaster princess said, "And we've retrieved the elements."

Twilight Sparkle laughed with a spark of tear and weariness. They were back, all of them. The group was restored for the first time in what felt like ages. Despite the fractured experiences, and the variety of times exposed to the plagues inflicted, the six stood proud and secure with their elements. Each understood the task at hand, what was to happen. Twilight stood before them a commander.

"Okay. One thing left; head to the library and defeat Harbinger."

Pinkie Pie let out a rather cold sigh. She had a strange and somber look about her. "Then let's go. This story needs to end."

Harbinger floated a taunt or totem. His head was pulled downward and shifted, like it was collapsing from it's own weight. His eye ran with touches of red - the very same worn by the weary or the tearful. He gathered himself near his cloudburst. Twilight Sparkle approached entrenched in the middle of her faculties as the tip of that spear. She bore her crown - that piece of the inscrutable Elements of Harmony - and relished in it. She stared up at the fickle beast, and met his gaze. There was a hopelessness in his eye, a wisp of ash and defeat. He was like a crumbling.

"I see you've got all your things…" he muttered down at the steadfast party beneath him. "So what? In the end, you won't be able to keep them…"

Rainbow Dash dug her hoof vindictively into the ground to Twilight's left, purposefully loud enough to capture her ear. The cyan pony fidgeted, angry and upbeat. Twilight moved up in front, a sign of dominance. Her breath quivered slightly then; She was a student leading a small army of ponies, princesses and embodiments of chaos. She was there in the forefront, and the rest fell silently into her command.

She spoke, "It doesn't have to end like this, Harbinger…." Another trample into the futile - to save that Harbinger. Insanity; doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Quips and fragments of thought rushed thru her then, and she stood there unable to silence them.

He stared at the envoy then, his left eye aflame with blends of rage, desolation and despair. "So you think you can save my soul? Well okay, then tell me with all your convictions: What happens now?"

Luna swallowed.

Twilight Sparkle moved closer, the tiara secured upon her head. She relished in that artifact like it was all that supported her. "You stop this."

He laughed, chastising the idea of being commanded. Winds circled around him, and a darkness bore itself with him. It was not physical, but warped around his fractured being like shimmers on water. He shot backwards with an apparition, away from the library with but a laugh and a clap of thunder. Twilight Sparkle stood fast, not allowing the gusts to stay her hand. She ordered her troops after him. Weak clouds and and thunder gathered under the benevolent sun in a nearby broken field, and Twilight rushed to meet him.

The Dark Harbinger had broken his rank, and now hovered defiantly up above a great empty field.

All the infected gathered there, flooding the hilltops around the epicenter like the onlookers in a coliseum. That awful cloud covered them, shielding they from light and sun. But the clouds conjured by the Harbinger were thin and weak compared to the overcast he had managed before. He floated there, high above the ground and awaited his challengers.

Twilight Sparkle lead her army - the element bearers, Spike and the two Princesses - quickly and with punctuation. The spectators allowed them passage, eyeing them with grim recluse all the while. That group remained vibrant however, the elements secured about their necks. They formed ranks in the epicenter, beneath the decadent Harbinger above. They remained silent and bitter.

He laughed then, emitting all manners of hysteria. "So, this broken field is to be the stage for our little Armageddon? What utter irony."

Twilight took the forefront, and faced the beast as a negotiator. He circled above the group in a twisted merriment, conjuring clouds and dust above him. "Harbinger, it's over. You've lost this game. Despite all you've done, you can still walk away. Please leave, there's no need to descend to violence."

"Enough!" he shouted, breathing heavily. His eye was aflame with a virulent, pathetic anger. A dim glow surrounded him. "You are in no place to condemn me, and in no place to forget all I've done for you before this moment!"

Dark magic ensured his horn, and a great beam summoned a thunderous maelstrom of cloud and shadow circled above him like a great Kharybdis in the skies. It formed a eldritch funnel above, circulating and devouring itself. The harbinger hoisted himself up, and took his place before it. He flapped his wings slowly then and leered down at those gathered below, and positioned himself with the gallant windy Ouroboros acting as a podium.

"Do you all think I know not what I've done? I'm well versed in my failings, now and in times past. And as fickle as the argument is, I tried. I did everything in my power to help you creatures, you occupants of this world. I defied and raised my horn against fathers and brothers, and accepted shackles to fuel your exploits! I… I gave up all I knew and all I had lived for. And you all dropped me like a stone, like I wasn't worth the time or the confrontation. You left me in that dead city like I was an acceptable LOSS!"

Twilight Sparkle stared up in confusion, he clan standing at her sides. "None of us here know what you're talking about, Harbinger!"

"Of course you don't!" he screamed, "And…and in my darkest moments, when I need you all more then ever, you were gone. You were all gone! And over the many long years, you forgot about me! You didn't even know my name. None of you even know my name!"

Pinkie Pie froze in place, her face painted in a dim shock.

Twilight Sparkle shook her head in the wind, and shouted once more. "However you think you've been wrong, you've no right to conduct your vengeance here! Leave now, Harbinger! This is your last chance!"

He snarled at her, bordering hysterics as he shouted and sobbed. The slit in his left eye shrunk in rage, and his body trembled on all sides. The winds, dust and clouds behind him shook and stirred as if fueled by his indignant flow of words, tremors and anger. His pallet grew darker, and his heart colder. He moved then like a dim flicker or the hollow aftermath of a flash bulb going off. His eye flashed black, like a hollow shade. Such a cruel gesture, such a decadence fell down upon the element bearers then. Rainbow Dash nudged Twilight, signaling her desire to ignite the elements.

He screamed then, hollow and futile. "Weep for all you know!"

Pinkie Pie's head dropped lower to the ground, her throat dry. She whispered then, as if reciting. "…and catalog all you've wasted."

Twilight Sparkle shut her eyes then, and hesitantly channeled all her will into the magic of her headband. She felt it's glow then, as it prepared to weaponize and strike down that bearer of plague that had swept thru and attempted to conquer this land and it's denizens. The energy drifted off, however, and she felt a significant back drop. She opened her eyes in horror, but felt and witnessed Pinkie Pie push past her. She stared, dumbfounded and wordless, as the pink pony tore her element necklace from her chest and casted it to the ground.

Pinkie Pie stood alone before the crowd, and before the desperate fury of the dark harbinger. She screamed then, louder than any trumpet or evil that had stretched across this land before.

"Ponietheus, you stop this!"

All sounds akin to wind and vicious pain dropped immediately from the soundscape, and the great whirlwind above them slowed and calmed. Debris stood still, hovering above them. That field was utterly quiet. The bleak darkness drifted away from the harbinger's eye, and he floated there in awe. His attention was fixated completely on Pinkie Pie, and the words she had used to stay him. He could not speak.

Pinkie Pie panted in place, and felt a different kind of tragic rush then. Not the pain she had felt in the desert before, but a crippling pity that course all thru her. She stared up at that creature, despite all his deeds and self-righteous anger, as an equal. Or better yet, as a part of herself. Silence befell all that gathered there.

"Yeah, I remember you." Pinkie Pie said, "I read your story in that book. I memorized the whole thing, every detail. I didn't understand why it spoke to me so clearly, and why I connected with it so easily until now. You whispered something at me once, Ponietheus… I didn't really hear you at the time, but I understand now. You said 'we're the same', you and I. And yeah, I think we are."

Her heart beat frantically against her chest, but she did not falter then nor cover her head in that dark. That defiler above was a fixated on her then as she had been on his story.

"You were wrong to do this, even if our ancestors abandoned you. But you know that, and you don't need to hear it from me. But you were very, very wrong on one particular thing. I'm not afraid of being alone, like you said. I'm afraid of being forgotten about, just like you. That's how we're the same. You said you'd never raise your horn against me again, and I don't think I'll ever raise my element against you. 'Such a thing would be akin to the needless slaughter of a lamb, or a brother.'"

She paused then, still staring up at him. His wings flapped slowly against the background, and he was so very still. Mountains and rivers moved in his left eye, like a symphony of chlorine that had finally found it's harmony.

"No…" Pinkie Pie continued, "No, reality's not so kind… and your stories don't always work out the way you want them to. But I'm kind… ponies here are kind, despite all that has happened out there. But this isn't your story anymore, Ponietheus… This is our story, and I don't want it to end with us fighting. You were cursed to this earth - confined at Hailcryon - and yet you're here right now. So, if you stop this and make this all right, you can stay here with us and I won't ever forget about you. That's how I want our story to end. I'll remember you. I remember everything about everypony."

A massive, blinding light encapsulated the harbinger and his storms then, and trickled down upon the town. That light spread out into the town, clearing all darkness and destruction. It gathered all that had been lost - every brick, every rock, every coin - and returned it. All was returned.

Discord shut his eyes then and whispered to himself, as if called away by something he couldn't sense or put into words. The light intensified as his whispering concluded. He stumbled back a bit, and the forgotten corners of his head pulsated with discomfort.

That light pulsated from the harbinger as his decadent crown and necklace drifted away. The bandages that burdened him dissolved, turning to dust and rushing up into the parting clouds in the skies. That Kharybdis collapsed in upon itself then and trickled away, restoring the skies to their comfortable, shimmering blues. The warm illuminations swept the darkness away from the infected like tears from the blackest eye, and they stood in awe and wonder as they were completely restored.

Ponietheus collapsed down into the ground then. He seemed the size of Big McIntosh, as if he'd adjusted his height and size. His skin remained as brilliantly alabaster as the fragments that had poked out from the bandages. His slicked-back dark hair now ran a brittle silver. His sad, light blue eyes were restored, and the eerie slit replaced. He sat up, with shoulders slouched and wings tucked to the side, and looked only to Pinkie Pie.

He smiled then. "I'd like that."


End file.
